WNCC Women's Basketball National Tournament History

1993

It was the first appearance at the national tournament for the Cougar women and the national tournament was held in Tyler, Texas. WNCC opened tournament play against Independence Community College, which had a starting line-up of 6-7, 6-6, 6-0, and 5-9 with three Polish players. WNCC trailed 32-24 at halftime and fell in the contest 67-46. Renee Rayton led the team with 16 points and 13 rebounds. That moved the Cougars into the consolation bracket and in a match against No. 1 Howard College, who was upset in the first round. That game saw Howard only lead 30-21 at halftime and Howard won 60-46. Rayton led the Cougars in scoring with 12 points followed by Terri Turpin with 10 points.

1995

The WNCC women were making their second appearance at the national championship in three years. The tournament was played in Tyler, Texas, and saw the Cougars almost win their first game at nationals. The opening game was against Pearl River Community College and WNCC led 30-27 at halftime. The second half saw Pearl River outscore WNCC 39-26 to earn the 66-56 win. Shannon St. Martin led the Cougars in scoring with 15 followed by Amber Bray with 14. That pushed WNCC into the consolation bracket and a match-up with Central Arizona College that saw Central Arizona lead WNCC 41-22 at the break. The final was 80-71 where WNCC outscored Central Arizona 49-39. Amber Bray led the Cougars with 16 points followed by Ceilien Rivera with 10 points.

1998

This trip to the national tournament saw the Cougars finish among the top four teams in the nation with a 2-2 record. The tournament was held in Salina, Kansas. WNCC’s trek to the Top Four finish started the tournament with a come-from-behind win over Cincinnati State Tech College 56-52. WNCC trailed 28-20 at halftime. The second half belonged to the Lady Cougars as they outscored Cincinnati State 36-24 for the win. Corrissa Johnson led the Cougars with 16 points followed by Ashley Strickland with 12. Next up for the Cougars was Gulf Coast Community College and the Cougars used strong defense with under 10 seconds to play to get the 67-66 win, moving them into the Final Four. Kyra Eberhard led the Cougars in her first start of the year with 18 points. In the semifinals, the Cougars faced Central Arizona and the Cougars trailed at halftime 45-15 and fell 77-50. Corrissa Johnson led the Cougars in scoring with 17 points. That moved the Cougars into the third-place game against Howard College and the Lady Hawks led 37-19 at halftime and Howard claimed third place with the 75-51 win. Johnson led WNCC with 21 points. WNCC finished the year at 31-6.

2001

The Cougars started the year with a .500 record at 5-5 as they started December. By the end of the year, the Cougars won three games at the regional tournament at Cougar Palace, topping Northeast Nebraska 66-52 for the title. At the national tournament in Salina, Kansas, WNCC had some dramatic games. The Cougars opened with a first-round loss to Tyler Junior College 62-58. That pushed them into the consolation bracket where they lost a heartbreaker in overtime 67-66 to end their season at 24-9.

2001

The Cougars started the year with a .500 record at 5-5 as they started December. By the end of the year, the Cougars won three games at the regional tournament at Cougar Palace, topping Northeast Nebraska 66-52 for the title. At the national tournament in Salina, Kansas, WNCC had some dramatic games. The Cougars opened with a first-round loss to Tyler Junior College 62-58. That pushed them into the consolation bracket where they lost a heartbreaker in overtime 67-66 to end their season at 24-9.

2003

This was the year the women’s basketball team made history as they became the first Cougar team to play for a national title. WNCC entered the national tournament with a 31-2 record and opened with an easy win over Crowder College 65-46. The Cougars then took out Hiwassee College 54-48 putting them in the semifinals. The semifinals saw the Cougars earn a hard-fought 61-56 win to move into the title game. The championship was all Gulf Coast as the Cougars fell 81-42.         

2004

The 2004 team had a 23-game win streak to end the regular season after winning the regional tourney. The Cougars then went to the national tournament in Salina, Kansas, and had Vincennes University in the first round and got the win 58-54 to move into the Elite Eight. The next round they faced Trinity Valley and fell 83-56. In a consolation game, the Cougars then faced Seward County and captured the close game 61-58 to put WNCC into the 5th-place game. That saw another close game, but WNCC fell to Three Rivers 63-53 to finish 6th and 30-7 overall.

2005

The 2005 team went through the regular season with just one blemish came Feb. 12 at Casper 61-57. At regionals, WNCC won all three games including topping Casper 48-36 to win the regional title. At nationals in Salina, Kansas, the Cougars opened against Georgia Perimeter with a 77-67 win behind 16 points from Simone Santos and then fell to Central Arizona College 85-45 where Brittany Jackson had 18 points. The Cougars then were eliminated in a game against Cincinnati State 67-55 behind Santos’ 10 points.

2006

The 2006 team also had an outstanding regular season, finishing at 30-2 and a 45-41 win over Casper in the regional title contest. At nationals in Salina, the Cougars finished 10th after going 2-2 at nationals. WNCC opened by falling to Chattanooga State 70-59. In the consolation bracket, the Cougars held on in a defensive game to down Georgia Perimeter 45-44. WNCC won the next game as they topped Lake Region State 53-34. WNCC then lost in the 9th-place game, falling to Arkansas-Ft. Smith 66-64.

2008

The 2008 season saw the team go 2-2 after falling in the consolation finals. The Cougars opened the tournament with a close 68-62 loss to Gulf Coast in the first-round. Chelsea Lyles led the team with 18 points. The loss dropped the Cougars into the consolation bracket where they won a high scoring contest against Monroe Community College 84-81, hanging on in the final seconds. Lyles scored 22 points for the Cougars. That win put the Cougars up against Walters State and WNCC won a thrilling game 55-54 as Emma Beddome scored 22 points. The 7th-place game saw Shelton State top the Cougars 66-46. WNCC trailed 41-21 at the half but went tooth-and-nail with Shelton State in the second half, but couldn’t make up the first-half deficit. Chelsea Lyles led the with 10 points.

 2013

This year the Cougars won the Region IX title over Gillette College and entered the national tournament in Salina, Kansas, with a 20-14 record. At nationals, WNCC held a 37-33 lead at halftime before falling 74-68 to ASA College. Mikayla Brower led the Cougars with 17 points, including going 12-of-12 from the free throw line.

2014

WNCC earned a trip to the national tournament after surviving Western Wyoming 69-67 in the title game. At nationals, WNCC opened with a close 63-60 win over State Fair Community College before falling to Trinity Valley in the second round 77-48. WNCC finished the year at 31-5.

2015

In the last year of the national tournament at Salina, Kansas, the Cougars dropped a game to South Georgia Technical College 70-57 to finish the season a 31-3 overall.

2017

This was a special year for Cougar women as Chad Gibney was named the interim head coach of the program in January and the Cougars came together in holding Eastern Wyoming scoreless in the final seconds to earn the Region IX tournament and a berth in the national tournament. At nationals, fell to Jones College 64-42 as Sladjana Rakovic and Bree Paulson led the way with nine points each. WNCC finished the year at 28-5.

2018

The 2018 team had to endure utter tension during the seeding show. The Cougars didn’t know if they would go in and when the final pair of games popped up, they found themselves into the national tournament as the 22nd seed. WNCC entered with a a 29-4 record. At nationals in Lubbock, Texas, the Cougars faced Tallahassee Community College, who also had an at-large bid. That game was one of the highest games the Cougars have played in tournament history. WNCC and Tallahasee battled tooth-and-nail. Tallahassee had a 19-18 lead after one quarter and the two teams were knotted at 41-41 at halftime. The Cougars held a 66-65 lead after three quarters. in the final period, Tallahassee out-scored the Cougars 32-19. Tallahassee went on to win the national tournament. WNCC was led in scoring by Merle Wiehl with 17 points in the loss that saw the Cougars end the season at 29-5.

2019

The Cougars captured the Region IX title this season and entered the tournament with a 29-3. The team battled Hutchinson Community College and it was a battle in the first half. WNCC trailed after one quarter 21-17 and trailed at halftime 37-31. The third quarter saw Hutch widen the lead at 61-44 and lost the game 81-60. Merle Wiehl led the Cougars with 17 points in the loss.

2020

WNCC entered the tournament after receiving the No. 7 seed and a first round bye and it all happened as the Cougars had to get an at-large bid. While, as the team was preparing to leave, on March 12 the tournament was postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak. The tournament was rescheduled for April, but the first part of April, the tournament was canceled.

2021

This year was special as the Cougars finished with a top eight finish (tied for fifth) and they were the third Region IX team that made the tournament after falling to Casper College in the semifinals. Once the Cougars got in the tournament, they made plenty of noise. The Cougars opened the tournament on April 19 against Iowa Western Community College and earned the hard-fought battle 79-70 after leading 34-33 at halftime. WNCC was led in scoring by Ashley Panem with 22 points followed by Ale’Jah Douglas with 17.
That set up a game in the quarterfinals with No. 1 Jones College and it was one where the national tournament was talking about the Cougars. WNCC led the top-ranked teams after one quarter 16-13 and then held a commanding 36-24 lead at halftime. Jones came back and outscored the Cougars 25-19 in the third quarter and WNCC held a slim 55-49 lead.
The fourth quarter was a defensive 10 minutes as the teams combined for just 19 points. The Cougars led 59-52 with four minutes to play. Jones went on an 8-0 run and took its first lead since the first quarter with 29.4 seconds to play on a field goal to lead 60-59. WNCC worked the ball for a shot and that was when Buell, who wears No. 13, hit a 15-footer over the outstretched arms of Endia Holliday with 13 seconds to play. Jones missed a shot and WNCC got the rebound and Ashley Panem was fouled with 5.1 seconds. Panem calmly hit both charity tosses for the 63-60 lead. Jones called a timeout to advance the ball to midcourt and a contested 3-pointer in the corner came up short as it hit the front iron and WNCC sealed the win. WNCC was led in scoring by Douglas with 27 points followed by 10 points from Ky Buell.
The moved the Cougars into the Elite Eight and a battle with Three Rivers Community College. Three Rivers led 21-15 after one quarter and took control of the game in the second quarter, outscoring WNCC 23-10 for a 44-25 lead at halftime. Back came the Cougars as they outscored Three Rivers 20-11 in the third quarter to slice the deficit to 55-45 and then outscored Three Rivers in the fourth quarter 26-24, but came up short in falling 79-71. Lidsey Mahoukou led the Cougars in scoring with 19 points followed by Panem with 14.

2022

The WNCC basketball team made history once again this season as they finished third at the national tournament with a Final Four appearance. The Coiugars went 3-1 at nationals and finished the year at 30-3 on the season.
The team's trek to the Final Four started with a commanding 71-59 ein over Murray State College where the Cougars used a big third quarter to get the win. Ale'Jah Douglas led the way with 14 points in the win.
The set up a game in the second round against Wabash Valley College and this one saw a close game as WNCC led 34-30 at halftime and then outscored Wabash 20-11 in the fourth quarter to claim the 70-59 lead. Aminata Zee led the way with a double-double of 12 points and 19 rebounds.
That put the Cougars into the Ellite Eight and a battle with the host team South Plains College. South Plains led 18-11 after the first quarter and held a 30-24 lead at halftime. WNCC outscored South Plains 39-21 in the second half including 26-12 in the fourth quarter to claim the 63-51 win. Payton Fields led the way with 13 points.
The moved the Cougars into the FInal Four and a battle with Tyler Junior College where the Apaches led 22-21 after one quarter before WNCC led 43-40 at halftime. The third quarter saw Tyler outscore WNCC 23-14 and they went on to win 88-76. Douglas finished 31 points in the game and also became the Cougars fourth player to score over 1,000 career points in the game.
Tyler went on to win the national title and Douglas was named to the all-tournament team.