Sunday, March 02, 2008

WNCC women move into semi-finals of regional tournament with 84-78 win over Sheridan

(Miles City, MT) -- In the first game of the second round, 25th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College came from behind to defeat Sheridan College 84-78 in the Region IX Women's Basketball Tournament.

The advances the Cougars into the semi-finals to face Casper College, who defeated Otero Junior College 54-40 after trailing 27-20 at halftime, at 5 p.m. Monday.

After trailing for more than 32 minutes of the game, Western Nebraska went on a 15-6 run to take their first lead of the game at 67-66 at the 7:55 mark in the second half on two Emma Beddome free throws.

WNCC pushed the lead to 73-66 on a Chelsea Lyles 3-pointer and followed by Alison Cheney’s old-fashioned 3-point play.

Sheridan could only manage to tie it once as WNCC would end the game on a 7-2 run, including clutch free throws down the stretch to move to 28-4 on the season.

Sheridan College jumped out to a 23-10 lead midway through the first half and went into the break with a 47-40 lead.

The Cougars from Western Nebraska had five different players in double figures. Shaquilah Davis led the team in both scoring and rebounding, knocking down 18 points and grabbing seven boards on the afternoon. Chelsea Lyles added 15 for WNCC.

Emma Beddone handed out five assists and scored 13 points. Iverson also had 13 points on the day, while Alison Cheney had 11 points.

Sheridan's Tonishea Mack and Tahnee Robinson each had double-doubles for the second consecutive night. Mack scored 28 points and pulled down 14 rebounds while Robinson finished with 23 points and 12 boards.

Point guard Lyndie Neville flirted with a quadruple double, finishing with seven points, seven rebounds, eight assists, and 11 turnovers.

Western Nebraska forced 24 Lady General turnovers that led to 26 points. The Cougars had 15 steals on the night.

Sheridan had several chances to win this game, but missed 10 free throws, hitting 17 of 27 on the game.

The Cougars, on the other hand, were 10-of-17 from the free throw line. WNCC also won the game from the 3-point arc, nailing eight treys on the day compared to just three for Sheridan. Lyles and Dana Iverson each had three 3-pointers, while Beddome had two.

Sheridan College finishes the year at 27-5, including being ranked in the national poll for several weeks including a 16th ranking in the February 13th poll.

WNCC 40 44 – 84
Sheridan 47 31 – 78
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Dana Iveson 13, Emma Beddome 13, SeLina Ysac 2, Shaquilah Davis 18, Alison Cheney 11, Tawny Drexler 2, Jenna Colwell 8, Chelsea Lyles 13, Carly Glisan 2.
SHERIDAN COLLEGE
Lyndie NeVille 7, Tonishea Mack 28, Randa Clabaugh 11, Tahnee Robinson 23, Kori Bingham 2, McKenzie Gentry 7.

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