GILLETTE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team buried 12 3-pointers and played strong defense in registering a 70-52 win over Gillette College to wrap up the Holiday Inn Express Classic in Gillette, Wyoming, on Saturday.
The win moves the Cougars to 12-3 overall while Gillette falls to 10-2. It was the Cougars fourth straight victory as they wrapped up the first semester on Saturday.
WNCC women will be back in action in January when they travel to Casper, Wyoming, for a Region IX Classic where they will face Gillette, Western Wyoming, and Casper College January 9-11.
WNCC started slow, falling behind 6-0 and later trailing 12-7. It was at that stage where something clicked for the Cougars and a big reason was the team's 3-point shooting.
The Cougars shot 44 percent and buried 12 3-pointers while Gillette shot just eight percent and made just one of 13 treys. Helene Kuck started the 3-point shooting with an early triple. Laura Montiel then buried a trey to make it 12-10. WNCC took their first lead of the game at 15-14 when Adelina Urtane had an old-fashioned 3-point play.
The score was tied late in the first when WNCC was playing for the last shot. Nataly Dunka, with the clock running down, buried a 3-pointer to put the Cougars up 20-17 after one period.
The second quarter was one where the Cougar offense continued excelling, burying five treys while the defense allowed just eight Gillette points. WNCC pushed the lead to 27-19 after a Montiel triple. Then, moments later, Kuck buried back-to-back 3-pointers for a 33-21 lead. WNCC led by 18 late at 41-23 when Zozefina Sipolina hit her 3-pointer. The Cougars led at half 41-25.
The third quarter started rough as Gillette scored the first six points and sliced the Cougar lead to single digits at 47-36. WNCC closed out the third on a 11-2 run that was highlighted by Kuck burying three free throws after getting fouled on a 3-pointer. Urtane then duplicated what Danka did in the first when she buried a buzz-beating triple to put WNCC up 60-40.
The final 10 minutes saw Gillette outscore WNCC 12-10, but the Pronghorns could never get closer than 15 points.
WNCC had four players in double figures. Kuck led the way with 20 points with five 3-pointers and five rebounds. Hernandez finished with 16 points with two treys, eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
Urtane had 12 points before fouling out while Dunka had 11 points with seven rebounds.
Besides 3-point shooting, the Cougars also was perfect from the free throw line, going 10-of-10 while Gillette was just 65 percent (15-of-23).
WNCC (12-3) 20 21 19 10 – 70
Gillette (10-2) 17 8 15 12 – 52
WNCC
Helena Kuck 20, Laura Montiel 8, Adelina Urtane 12, Zozefine Sipolina 3, Nataly Dunka 11, Lidia Hernandez 16.
GILLETTE
Arna Bright 9, Rochelle Afo-Manuma 18, Danae Asiata 4, Dasani Nesnit 9, Andrea Martin 4, Marija Marinkovic 1, Kenlee Engelhardt 4, Malena Edwards 3.