WNCC tops Trinidad State for sixth straight win

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team won its sixth game in a row with a hard-fought win against Trinidad State Junior College, 79-73, in the second day of the TEAM Chevrolet Thanksgiving Classic Saturday at Cougar Palace.

WNCC jumped out to a 9-4 lead early, only watch Trinidad State come storming back to take a 19-18 lead. After that, both teams kept trading buckets left and right with the Trojans enjoying a 44-42 halftime lead on a drive towards the basket by Donell Wells.

The second half was close at times. WNCC zoomed to a 61-53 lead with 11 minutes to play, only to watch Trinidad State run off six straight points to cut the lead. WNCC went back up by five points on four points by Daniel Smith, and then led 71-65 after a Scott Bamforth 3-pointer with 3:30 to play.

Trinidad tried making a game of it after trailing 73-68 with a minute to play on a Wells’ 3-pointer. The Trojans cut the lead to 73-70 on a Chuck Kempf bucket, but clutch free throw shooting down the stretch helped WNCC to the win.

Four Cougars finished in double figures. Francisco Cruz, who scored 30 points Friday night against Williston State, poured in 20 points and had six rebounds. Bamforth finished with 17 points and three 3-pointers, while Smith and Larry Brown each had 10 points.

Trinidad State also had four players in double figures. Wells paced the Cougars with 20 points, including four 3-pointers. Josh Megyeri also poured in 12 points, while Curtis Ashe had 11 points, and Darren Houlison had 10 points.

WNCC, 9-2, will next be in action Tuesday when they travel to Cheyenne, Wyo., to face Laramie County Community College beginning at 7 p.m.

Trinidad State 44 29 – 73

WNCC (9-2) 42 37 – 79

TRINIDAD STATE

Donell Wells 20, Willie Holines 8, Josh Megyeri 12, Josh Henry 4, Curtis Ashe 11, Darren Houlison 10, Chuck Kempf 8.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Lloyd Hickinson 5, Daniel Smith 10, Chris Hamblin 5, Scott Bamforth 17, Francisco Cruz 20, Virgil Baker 3, Larry Brown 10, John Bright 7, Ali Djim 2.

Three-Pointers: TSJC 6 (Wells 4, Megyeri 2); WNCC 4 (Bamforth 3, Baker).

WNCC women top Nebraska All-stars 69-30 for seventh win of season

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team used a strong second half scoring explosion enroute to a 69-30 win over the Nebraska All-stars in the final day of the TEAM Chevrolet Thanksgiving Classic Saturday at Cougar Palace.

WNCC coach Dave Harnish said that his team definitely pick up the tempo in the second half, thanks to five 3-pointers and 42 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes.

“In the first half, we weren’t knocking shots down, shooting 27 percent from the field. We got good shots, we just weren’t getting them to fall,” he said. “In the second half we made some shots and made some threes. The difference in the first and second half is we made some shots. We are struggling with confidence and hopefully this win will help with our confidence level.”

The Cougar women definitely didn’t come out of the gate with a whole of offense. What the team did have, however, was a defense that flustered the All-stars. In fact, the Cougars jumped out to a 9-0 lead before the All-stars scored on a Regan Pettijohn free throw.

WNCC’s defense continued to excel as the All-star’s didn’t score their first field goal with 8:42 to play on a Maggie Kucera bucket to cut the lead to 13-3. The Cougars continued playing tough defense, running out to a 27-14 halftime lead.

The second half was a different story for the Cougar women as the offense heated up. SeLina Ysac started things with eight points, including two 3-pointers to push the lead to 39-18. Stormye Everett followed with a trey to push the lead to 42-18.

WNCC wasn’t through shooting the long ball with Amber Kistler nailing back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Cougars a 54-23 lead with eight minutes to play. Kistler finished the night with three 3-pointers and 13 points, seven of which came in the first half.

The Cougars had three players in double figures. Shaquilah Davis led the way with 16 points, five steals and four assists, while Ysac had 12 points, seven rebounds and seven stills. Kistler also had three steals to her 13 points.

Pettijohn and Kucera each had nine points to lead the All-stars, while Tera Schmid had eight points.

WNCC (7-3) will next be in action next weekend when they compete in the South Sub-region tournament in La Junta, Colo., where they will face McCook, Otero and Lamar.

In the other game of the TEAM Chevrolet Classic, the Eastern Wyoming College Lancers trailed by 12 at halftime and then outscored the Williston State College Lady Tetons 42-39, but the comeback wasn’t enough falling 81-72.

“I was happy with the way our kids fought back, battled and were competitive against a real good Williston State team. They have a couple of kids that are really good,” EWC coach Tom Andersen said. “Early in the first half we got down by 12 or 14 and played better toward the end of the first half. I thought the second half we battled well. We got to within four or five with a couple minutes to go, but we just couldn’t get the stop or the basket to get it down to a one or two possession game.”

Williston dominated the contest in the first half as the Lady Tetons shot 42 percent from the field compared to 32 percent for the Lancers. The second half was a different story as the Lancers headed up on 43 percent shooting.

The Lancers, who trailed 42-30 at halftime, sliced the lead to 66-62 with 5:41 to play on a 3-point play by Jaqi Bell. Both squads traded 3-pointers before the Lady Tetons moved to a 9-point lead, 74-65, with 2:56 to play.

EWC fought back as Candace Mitchell bucketed two field goals and Bell rang the rim with two free throws with 1:12 to play to slice the lead to 76-71. Williston sealed the game with five free throws to get the win.

Bell paced the Lancers with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Noelle Jones pitched in 16 points and Mitchell had 14 points. The Lancers finished the contest hitting 16 of 18 free throws, led by a 6 of 6 performance from Bell, as well as Danielle Brown going 4 of 4.

Williston State had three players in double figures, paced by Christine Miller’s 23 points. Kristin Bearstail had 17 points and Amber Adams finished with 15 points.

Andersen said they played much better in the second half and they will get tested next weekend when they competed in the Wyoming Conference Tournament. The Lancers will face Western Wyoming Community College on Thursday, Casper College on Friday and Sheridan College on Saturday.

“We spread the ball around a little bit and we started to get to the basket inside a little bit in the second half to get ourselves some better opportunities,” Andersen said. “We have to continue to do that to get to the free throw line. I am hoping we are getting better and we have to keep battling. We have some pretty tough ones out there, so it is a chance for us to keep getting better.”

Eastern Wyoming 30 42 – 72

Williston State 42 39 – 81

EASTERN WYOMING

Kera Bretney 2, Alex Leake 3, Koel Hall 6, Candace Mitchell 14, Noelle Jones 16, Jessica Brown 4, Danielle Brown 9, Jaqi Bell 18.

WILLISTON STATE

Andi Wheeler 4, Abby Nasset 7, Whitney Sundheim 7, Kristin Bearstail 17, Amber Adams 15, Christine Miller 23, Brittany Azure 6, Jamie Njos 2.

Three-pointers: EWC 4 (Hall 2, D. Brown, Leake); Williston 3 (Bearstail 2, Adams).

Nebraska All-stars 14 16 -- 30

Western Nebraska 27 42 -- 49

NEBRASKA All-Stars

Lesley Olson 1, Tera Schmid 8, Shawna Quevedo 2, April Olson 1, Maggie Kucera 9, Regan Pettijohn 9.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Tanisha Gilmore 7, Amber Kistler 13, Lorena Medairos 2, SeLina Ysac 12, Shaquilah Davis 16, Stormye Everett 6, Tawny Drexler 5, Rachael Ragland 2, Caley Fisher 2.

Three-pointers: WNCC 6 (Kistler 3, Ysac 2, Everett), All-stars: 2 (Schmid 2).

WNCC women fall in a heartbreaker, 70-68, to Williston State

The Western Nebraska Community College and Eastern Wyoming College women’s basketball teams turned in different performances in the first day of the TEAM Chevrolet Thanksgiving Classic Friday at Cougar Palace.

The Eastern Wyoming women held a 20-point lead in the first half and then saw the lead evaporate in the second half before coming back to handle the Nebraska All-stars 74-58.

The Cougar women, were also battling back from a first half deficit. However, their shot at the buzzer to force overtime wouldn’t fall and the WNCC women suffered a 70-68 to Williston State College. The loss dropped the Cougars record to 6-3.

EWC and WNCC will be back on the court today in the final day of the TEAM Chevrolet Classic. The Lancer women will face Williston State at 1 p.m., while the Cougar women will battle the Nebraska All-stars at 5 p.m.

Both games were exciting on the evening. The Lancers used an 18-0 run in the second run to come help the Lancers to the victory. Before that run, however, the Nebraska All-stars were sticking with the Lancers.

The All-stars fought back from a 30-18 first half deficit to trail at halftime 33-29. The All-stars came back, taking the lead at 43-41 with 16 minutes to play off a Tera Schmid offensive putback. Regan Pettijohn, who played at Gering before starring four years at Iona University, had an old-fashioned 3-point play to put the All-stars up 46-43.

Both teams traded buckets left and right. Maggie Kucera tossed in a bucket with 11 minutes to play to put the All-stars up 51-49. That was when the Lancers made the 18-0 run as Jaqi Bell, who led all scorers with 26 points, scored six points and Candace Mitchell added four to put the Lancers up 67-51 over an eight minute period.

Schmid, who knocked down 3-pointers when she starred for Scottsbluff, WNCC and Chadron State, canned a trey to stop the run. Bell, though, kept her offensive game heated up as she grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw to put EWC up 70-54 and the win.

EWC coach Tom Andersen said they had to fight against a talented All-star team that featured plenty of stars that starred for their area high school teams.

“There was some talent out there against us and we didn’t adjust too well to their big kids,” he said. “We struggled at times in the first part of the game. We had a little lead in the first half and let it slip away. The last 10 minutes of the game I thought we played pretty well. We passed the ball a lot better and got us some good opportunities to score. We got some steals.”

The Lancers had two players in double figures. Besides Bell’s 26 points, including 10 of 17 shooting, Mitchell tossed in 11 points. Bretney and Ashlee Hudson each finished with nine points in the win.

Pettijohn paced the All-stars with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Schmid had 15 points and seven rebounds.

The Lancers will face Williston State today at 1 p.m. and Andersen said they will need to play tough for the full 40 minutes.

“Williston will be a tough opponent for us,” he said. “We need to play a lot better and hopefully we gained a little confidence over the last 10 minutes of what we can do. We will see what we can do.”

WNCC, on the other hand, fought tooth and nail with the Lady Tetons in the second half. Williston State held a 40-31 advantage at halftime and led by as much as seven points, 54-47 with 8:10 to play on a Andi Wheeler 3-pointer.

WNCC fought back, tying the game at 54-54 on a Michelle Lighthall bucket. The Cougars never could get the lead as Williston State the lead to 62-56 on a Whitney Sundheim bucket. The Cougar women, still had opportunities to win or force overtime in the final minute.

The Cougars tied the game on back-to-back buckets by Tawny Drexler at 64-64 with 2:23 to play. After a bucket by Abbey Nassert, WNCC’s Drexler hit two free throws to knot the score at 66-66. With 1:30 to play, the Lady Tetons’ Kristin Bearstail hit a running 8-foot bank shot to put Williston up 68-66.

Both teams turned the ball over a couple of times before Amber Adams put the Lady Tetons up 70-66 with 28.7 seconds to play with two free throws. WNCC came right back as Stormye Everett hit a bucket with 8.2 seconds to play.

After a Williston State turnover, WNCC had one final attempt for the tying bucket, but Shaquilah Davis’ five-footer wouldn’t fall and the Lady Tetons earned the win.

WNCC had three players in double figures. Drexler paced the team with 20 points, while Davis had 18 and Everett at 14.

The difference in the game turned out to be shooting as Williston State was 53 percent from the field, while the Cougars were 41 percent. Sundheim paced Williston with 18 points.

All-stars 29 29 – 58
Eastern Wyoming 33 41 – 74
NEBRASKA ALL-STARS
Shanel Wambolt 4, Tera Schmid 15, April Olson 8, Maggie Kucera 8, Regan Pettijon 21, Stephanie Perez 2.
EASTERN WYOMING
Kere Bretney 9, Koel Hall 5, Jessica Martinez 7, Candace Mitchell 11, Noelle Jones 3, Danielle Brown 4, Ashlee Hudson 9, Jaqi Bell 26.
Three-Pointers: All-stars 2 (Schmid 2), EWC 2 (Martinez, Jones).

Williston State 40 30 -- 70
Western Nebraska 31 37 -- 68
WILLISTON STATE
Andi Wheeler 5, Abby Nasset 5, Whitney Sundheim 18, Kristin Bearstail 17, Molly Wold 4, Amber Adams 10, Christine Miller 11.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Michelle Lighthall 6, SeLina Ysac 5, Shaquilah Davis 18, Stormye Everett 14, Tawny Drexler 20, Caley Fisher 5.
Three-pointers: WNCC 2 (Davis, Fisher), Williston 6 (Bearstail 3, Sundheim 2, Wheeler 1).

WNCC men win overtime thriller against Williston State 119-111

Western Nebraska Community College’s Scott Bamforth and Francisco Cruz each hit for 30 points to lead the Cougars to a thrilling 119-111 overtime win over Williston State College in the first day of the TEAM Chevrolet Thanksgiving Classic.

In the early game, Eastern Wyoming also lit up the scoreboard, nailing 12 first-half 3-pointers in racing past Trinidad State Junior College and Winston Harris had a double-double to lead the Lancers to a 93-79 win.

Both squads will be back in action today in the final day of the TEAM Chevrolet Thanksgiving Classic. The Lancers will battle Williston State at 3 p.m. while the Cougars will face Trinidad State.

Both contests were classic wins by both area teams. But the Cougars win had plenty of drama. WNCC and Williston State had 19 lead changes and 10 ties in the contest, but it was Cruz’ bucket at the buzzer that was the big shot to force the 10^th tie of the game to force overtime.

“Williston did a great job and they played really hard,” WNCC coach Brian Joyce said. “I think our guys were taken back a little bit. I knew they were good and I told our guys it was going to be a tough game because they were going to play their tails off and they did.”

WNCC, though, kept battling, and the storyline is free throw shooting. The squads combined for 78 free throws, with the Cougars making 38 of 52 charity stripes. Cruz was 12 of 15 from the line, while Bamforth was 13 of 16.

But, as much as the Cougars were hot from the free throw line, the Tetons were sizzling from beyond the arc, rattling home 16 of 41 3-pointers. Mathaniel Pachineau led the way with seven treys as he led all scorers with 31 points. Luke Martinez also cashed in on six 3-pointers and 21 ponts.

The final two minutes of regulation was an intense moment for both sides. Williston just took a 100-97 lead on a Martinez trey. WNCC fought back, slicing the lead to one point, 102-101, on a John Bright bucket with 38.7 seconds left.

The Tetons took a 104-101 lead on Malik Omar’s one of two free throws with just 11.7 ticks on the clock. That was when things got interesting as Daniel Smith was intentionally fouled with seven seconds to play. Smith hit just one of two free throws, but WNCC got the ball back and Cruz hit a 5-fot jumper from the paint at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

In the extra period, WNCC built an 108-104 lead before Williston fought back behind a trey by Erekle Jgerenaia and a driving bucket by Packineau for a 109-108 lead. WNCC came storming back as Smith followed his own shot and had an old-fashioned 3-point play to put the Cougars up 113-109.

Williston sliced the lead to 115-111 with 30 seconds to play, but clutch free throw shooting down the stretch gave the Cougars their fifth straight win.

WNCC had five players in double figures. Besides Bamforth and Cruz’s 30 points each, Larry Brown had 15, Smith finished with 12, and Chris Hamblin had 10.

Williston State placed six players in double figures, led by Pachineau’s 31 points. Omar also collected a double-double, getting 13 points and 10 rebounds.

In the earlier contest, EWC shot 64 percent (12-19) from beyond the arc in the first half to grab a 44-29 halftime lead. In the second half, Trinidad State made the contest interesting, holding the Lancers’ outside shooting to just 1 of 3 from behind the arc. The Trojans, in the meantime, connected on 50 percent of their shots, to slice the lead to 82-79 with just under two minutes to play.

EWC picked up the pace, outscoring the Trojans 11-0 in the final two minutes to claim the win.

The Lancers placed four players in double figures. Winston Harris paced the team with 21 points followed by Billy Butler with 18, Lance Korell with 16, and Arunas Simanavicius with 15.

Trinidad State had four players hit the double figure column. Curtis Ashe led the way with 18 points followed by Willie Holmes with 17, and Donell Wells and Josh Megyeri with 16 points each.

“Our test tonight was that we were faced with the same situation as Tuesday, which was playing a good first half and a good lead at halftime and then I asked them how are we going to respond in the second half,” EWC coach Casey Jones said. “I asked them were we going to let what happened Tuesday night in the second half happen again, where they [the opponent] would come back and beat us. Trinidad State did come back, but our guys did a good job of absorbing their comeback and winning.

Trinidad State 29 50 – 79
Eastern Wyoming 44 49 – 93
TRINIDAD STATE
Donell Wells 16, Willie Holmes 17, Devon Manning 2, Josh Megyeri 16, Josh Henry 1, Curtis Ashe 18, Darron Houlison 8, Chuck Kempf 1.
EASTERN WYOMING
Billy Butler 18, Jacarn Culberson 5, Lance Korell 16, Matt Pritchett 6, Leo Morris 1, Arunas Simanavius 15, Zach Serda 3, Caleb Moore 4, Winston Harris 23.
Three-pointers: TSJC 11 (Megyeri 4, Wells 4, Ashe 3), EWC 13 (Harris 5, Korell 4, Butler 2, Simanavicius, Serda).

Williston State 57 47 7 – 111
Western Nebraska 52 52 15 – 119
WILLISTON STATE
Devon Jackson 11, Nathaniel Packineau 31, Charlie Chapman 7, Luke Martinez 21, Neil Packineau 2, Erekle Jgerenaia 10, Sharmile Jeffers 2, Malik Omar 13, Justin Berry 14.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Lloyd Hickinson 2, Saul Torres 2, Daniel Smith 12, Chris Hamblin 10, Scott Bamforth 30, Francisco Cruz 30, Virgil Baker 7, Larry Brown 15, John Bright 6, Ali Djim 5.
Three-pointers: Williston 16 (Na. Pachineau 7, Martinez 6, Jgerenaia 2, Chapman), WNCC 3 (Bamforth 3).

WNCC's Hamblin signs with Division I Mississippi Valley State

Western Nebraska Community College sophomore Chris Hamblin has always dreamed of playing in the Southwestern Athletic Conference as well as in the South.

Last week, Hamblin got his wish after signing letter of intent with Mississippi Valley State University, a Division I institution.

“I have a lot of family that lives in Mississippi and I have always had the dream to go back to the south,” Hamblin said. “I’ve always been interested in playing in that league and wanting a D1 scholarship.”

WNCC coach Brian Joyce said Mississippi Valley State is a perfect fit for Hamblin, who should see some playing time.

"He deserves an opportunity to compete at the next level and I am glad he is getting the chance,” Joyce said. “MVSU went to the national tournament so Chris will get a chance to be a part of a good program. The style of play fits his game very well and will allow him to be successful."

Hamblin is excited to be going to a program that he can fit into right away.

“I choose Mississippi Valley because it is a good school,” Hambllin said. “Mississippi Valley State plays very hard and there style of play fits my game.”

Last season for the Cougars, Hamblin averaged five points and six rebounds a game while starting 26 of 31 games. This season, Hamblin has been a starter and has provided plenty of leadership on a realitively young team. He is averaging about eight points and five rebounds a game in the first nine games for the Cougars.

Joyce said it is nice to have a student athlete like Hamblin in the WNCC program.
Chris has been a tremendous ambassador for our program,” Joyce said.”He comes to practice everyday and works his tail off. He is a great example of a player who understands the sacrifice and committment needed to be contributer to a successful program.”

Joyce said that at MVSU, he will be able to finish his degree as well.

“Chris is committed to getting his degree,” he said. “This next step will afford him the opportunity to reach this goal.”

Mississippi Valley State is 0-5 this season after opening the contest with losses to Oklahoma and James Madison in the pre-season NIT tournament. The Delta Devils also play contests close to the Scottsbluff area, including a contest against the University of Montana last Thursday, where they were defeated.

The Delta Devils also face Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, on Nov. 29, and then head to Omaha to face Creighton on Dec. 2.

WNCC men's basketball comes back from 16-point halftime deficit to down EWC 89-82

TORRINGTON, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team overcame a 16-point halftime deficit to register an astonishing 89-82 win over Eastern Wyoming College at the Verl Petsch Activities Center in Torrington, Wyo., Tuesday evening.

The contest definitely was a tale of two halves for the Highway 26 rivals.

“They [EWC] played harder than we did in the first half. Then, in the second half, our guys made a decision to really suck it up,” WNCC coach Brian Joyce said. “They did a good job of hanging in there, not losing our composure, and doing it one stop at a time. We just fought back. Eastern Wyoming did a good job in first half and our guys could have laid down, but they responded and just did it one stop at a time. I am proud of them.”

EWC totally dominated play in the first 20 minutes, ripping the nets at a 62 percent rate from behind the arc (8 of 13) and 54 percent from the field. The second half, the Lancers cooled off, falling to 25 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 32 percent from the field.

Lancer Coach Casey Jones said his team didn’t execute like they needed to in the first half.

“We talked about it at halftime where the shooting percentage was the name of the game. We knew we weren’t going to shoot it 68 percent in the second half,” he said. “We knew the rebounds were even, so we said if we could out-rebound them, we would win. We did not out rebound them and I don’t need to see stats to know we lost the rebounding battle in the second half, and that was the ball game.”

WNCC out-rebounded the Lancers 39-36, but the big difference in the contest was turnovers. WNCC committed just 17 turnovers, while the Lancers had 24, including two big ones with under 50 seconds to play that essentially was the difference in the ball game.

“That is the best we have played, which was fun. But, it comes down to one turnover, which lost the basketball game,” he said. “It is proof of how fragile this sport is possession by possession. We teach possession by possession all year and had we inbounded the basketball and got fouled and shot free throws like we shoot free throws, we would have won the game.”

It didn’t happen that way. EWC controlled the first half, running out to a 49-33 halftime lead. In the second half, the Cougars changed the complexion of the game in the first seven minutes, outscoring the Lancers 24-11 to slice the lead to 60-57.

WNCC’s Daniel Smith brought the Cougars back with five straight points to tie the game at 62 with 10:54 to play. The Lancers responded right back, grabbing a 65-62 lead off three points by Arunas Simanavicius.

Both teams kept swapping baskets left and right until the Lancers jumped to a 74-70 lead off a 3-pointer by Bayard’s Zach Serda with about six minutes to play. WNCC fought back as Larry Brown had an old-fashioned 3-point play and then hit a bucket later to slice the lead to 76-75. Seconds later, Scott Bamforth nailed two free throws with 5:07 to play to give the Cougars their first lead of the game since the 18 minute mark of the first half.

EWC, however, fought back grabbing a 3-point lead on a bucket by Caleb Moore and two free throws by Matt Pritchett to take an 80-77 lead with 3:12 to play. EWC’s Moore put the Lancers up by three, 82-79, with 1:25 to play.

After a WNCC timeout, the Cougars’ defensive intensity picked up another notch as Chris Hamblin hit a bucket. Then, the Lancers turned the ball over on an inbounds play and WNCC immediately took advantage as Smith made an old-fashioned 3-point play with 47.9 seconds to play to put the Cougars up 84-82.

The Lancers followed with another turnover, which resulted in Smith nailing two free throws for the Cougars to widen the lead to 86-82 with 31.2 seconds to play. EWC still was in the contest, but an offensive foul, gave the ball back to the Cougars and Scott Bamforth nailed 3 of 4 free throws to give the Cougars their fourth straight win.

Joyce said free throw shooting and defense won the contest for the Cougars. WNCC nailed 18 of 25 free throws with Bamforth was 5 of 6 from the line for 23 points. The freshman from Albuquerque, N.M., also rattled home four 3-pointers.

“Our guys did a good job of us getting to the line in critical times of the game,” he said. “There is no question that the defense was huge. That is what wins championships and if we are not going to do it, we are not going to have a chance. Our guys in the second half showed what we are capable of doing.”

The Cougars placed five players in double figures. Besides Bamforth’s game-leading 23 points, Brown finished with 18 points, followed by Smith with 14, Francisco Cruz with 11 and John Bright with 10.

The Lancers had three players hit the double-digit scoring column. Winston Harris finished with 19 points, including five 3-pointers, before fouling out with eight minutes left in the game. Simanavicius finished with 19 points, including 9 of 10 from the charity stripe, while Matt Pritchett had 12 points.

The Lancers’ leading scorer Lance Korell left the game minutes into the contest with an ankle injury and never returned from the locker room.

“We lost our two best players, one in the first minutes of the game in the leading scoring and one to fouls early in the second half,” Jones said. “It just shows how much we need those two boys, Lance and Winston. You know when you are only seven deep and you lose two guys, it shows toward the end of the game.”

Both teams will be back in action this weekend in the TEAM Chevrolet Thanksgiving Classic at Cougar Palace. The Lancers will battle Trinidad State Junior College at 3 p.m., while the Cougars will face Williston State at 7 p.m.

Joyce said his team is starting to get some confidence and he hopes it continues this weekend.

“We are a relatively a young team with our program only a year and a few months into it,” he said. “When you get wins like this, I think it gives our guys confidence and shows what we can be successful. I think this is a good test for us. I was proud of how our guys responded.”

WNCC (7-2) 33 56 – 89
EWC (3-4) 49 33 – 82
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Lloyd Hickinson 2, Daniel Smith 14, Chris Hamblin 9, Scott Bamforth 23, Francisco Cruz 11, Virgil Baker 2, Larry Brown 18, John Bright 10
EASTERN WYOMING
Billy Butler 6, Jacarri Culberson 6, Matt Pritchett 12, Leo Morris 6, Arunas Simanavicius 18, Zach Serda 3, Caleb Moore 6, Winston Harris 19, Hadden Jasper 6.
Three-Pointers: WNCC 5 (Bamforth 4, Hamblin 1), EWC 10 (Harris 5, Pritchett 2, Morris 1, Serda 1, Simanavicius 1).

WNCC volleyball drops Iowa Western in five sets, takes third at national tourney

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team had their backs to the ropes in the third place match of the NJCAA national volleyball tournament against No. 1 Iowa Wetern Community College.

Down 2 sets to 1, the Cougars found that extra heart that first-year coach Giovana Melo was stressing in the timeouts, and the Cougars earned an exciting five-set win agaisnt the Reivers 25-20, 24-26, 24-26, 25-21, 15-8. It was the Cougars record-setting 59^th win of the season. It was also the Cougars third straight top three finish at nationals.

“This team never gave up no matter what,” Melo said. “The thing I am most happy about is this team has fought and fought evey point here at the national tournament. I couldn’t be any more prouder. They did awesome.”

WNCC needed every bit of their fight to succumb a talented Iowa Western squad and they did it with a team effort. Freshman Kaleinani Kabalis and sophomore Nayka Benitez finished with double-doubles in the win. Kabalis pounded home a match-high 22 kills and had 10 digs. Kabalis also had six points, including the match winning ace serve.

WNCC also landed two players on the all-tournament team as Kabalis and sophomore Palomo Alvarez earned the honors.

Benitez turned in a steller defensive effort. The 5-3 ½ libero finished with 15 digs, 12 points and six aces.

“It felt like we worked together and we felt like no one could stop us when we came back. It felt so right,” Kabalis said. “We put everything together and we did it. It was very intense and I though we played very well.”

Benitez credits the win not only to her teammates, but also Melo, who never gave up on the sidelines, giving inspirational speeches during the timeouts to keep their heads up.

“She is a awesome coach. She always talked to us to keep focusing on winning the game,” Benitez said. “She never gave up. She always said in the timeout you guys have to fight every time. She brings so much energy to us. That is why we won the game.”

The Cougard didn’t need too much energy in the opening set, running out to a 6-1 lead and led 14-8 on a Paloma Alvarez kill. Iowa western fought back thanks to eight missed serves by the Cougars, cutting the lead to 19-17 on a block.

Both squads traded points back and fourth until three Kabalis kills, including the set winner, gave the Cougars the win.

Benitez started set two sizzling, serving four straight aces to give WNCC a 5-0 lead. Iowa Western fought back tying the contest on a missed serve. Still, the Cougars were in good shape, jumping out to a 19-14 lead on three Alvarez serves as WNCC was in prime shape to capture the win.

The Reivers had other ideas, fighting back to tie the set at 21-21 on three serves by Andrea Rojas. WNCC would come back and take a 24-22 lead, only to watch Iowa Western’s madison Hardy with the final three points to even the match.

Set three was a reverse of of set two as Iowa Western jumped all over WNCC holding a 16-10 lead at one time. WNCC didn’t quite ad Balza served three points to slice the lead to 18-17. The Reivers came back and were up 24-19 before a Paulina Piegza hammered home a kill.

Kabalis followed with four straight points to tie the set at 24-24. A missed serve and then a Coguar miss hit gave Iowa Western the 2-1 set lead.

This is where the Cougars recharged their energy as WNCC was a totally different team in set four as Alvarez served three straight points behind two Kabalis monster kills for a 6-3 lead. WNCC widened the lead to 16-7 on Benitez served four points.

Iowa Western fought back, slicing the lead to 22-20 on two Hardy serves, but Balza kill stopped the run with a kill and then Alvarez finished off the set with a kill to force the deciding fifthh set.

The fifth set was all WNCC as the Cougars were not to be denied bringing home a trophy. Benitez started things with three straight service points and then WNCC led 9-3 on a Balza kill. Iowa Western fought back slicing the lead to 9-6 on two Anna Wagner pionts.

Kabalis stopped the run with a kill and then Sabina Piegza had three service points to push the lead to 13-6. At that moment, it was a matter of time before the Cougars would get the win, and four rotations later, Kabalis had the ace serve that was too hot for the Reivers to return for the victory.

One of the big reasons for the win, Melo said, was because her team adjusted well. The team had 17 service errors in the five sets, 14 of which game in the first two sets. In the final three sets, the Cougars settled down and played their game.

“We were able to adjust to the problems we were having and we were able to come out and fight and do the things we had to do to win the match,” she said.

Alvarez finished the match with 16 kills, two blocks, five digs, eight points and two aces; while Balza had 13 kills, four assisted blocks, two solo blocks, nine points, two aces and two digs. Also for WNCC, Sabina Piegza had three digs, two kills and 53 set assists; Gregner Quinones had nine points and four digs; Cami Weimer had three blocks; and Paulina Piegza had nine kills and three blocks.

Melo, who guided the team to a school record 59 wins and a third place finish in her first year as a head coach, was about hearse after game because of the intense contest. She just told her team they accomplished a lot.

“One of the things I told them after the win was on top of them getting third, we were able to beat the teams that we lost to in the regular season in Miami Dade and iowa Western,” she said. “That is a huge accomplishment for us.”

The Cougars will lose three sophomroes from this year’s team – Balza, Alvarez and Benitez – and Melo said they were leaders all season.

“They carried this team and kept them together,” she said. “They were able to take the freshmen and teach them what this is all about.”

In the championship match, Blinn College rallied for a five-set win over the University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith claiming a 27-29, 19-25, 30-28, 25-19, 15-10 win to claim their first natioal championship.

WNCC women's basketball team blows past Lancer All-star team

Submitted by Jeremy Woznick of the Scottsbluff Star-Herald

TORRINGTON, Wyo. -Stormye Everett tallied 23 points to help the Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball to an easy 95-33 win over the Lancer All-Stars in the first day of the Eastern Wyoming College Basketball Tournament on Friday afternoon in Torrington.

Everett, a freshman from Aurora, Colo., connected on 11 of her 15 shots from the field to pace the Cougars offensively. She also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and collected four steals.

The victory improved WNCC to 5-2 on the season heading into today's game against Central Wyoming College. Tip off is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Torrington.

WNCC had no trouble with the all-stars as the Cougars raced out to a 30-5 lead before holding a 46-13 advantage at the half.

The Cougars continued to sizzle offensively in the second half, as they put up 49 points in the final 20 minutes.

Joining Everett in the double-figure scoring column for the Cougars were Amber Kistler and Shaquilah Davis. Kistler, a freshman from Bayard, scored 15 points on 5 of 11 shooting and Davis put in 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Kistler also led the Cougars from the free-throw line, as she was a perfect 4-for-4.
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Both SeLina Ysac and Tawny Drexler scored nine points for WNCC and Caley Fisher totaled eight points.

Ysac was seeing her first game action since the opening tournament of the season, as she's been nursing a sore ankle. The Scottsbluff High School graduate played nearly 16 minutes.

WNCC's Davis pulled down six rebounds and Janae Willis had five. Davis led the Cougars in assists with four. Both Everett and Rachael Ragland led the way defensively with four steals. Davis added three.

The all-stars were led in scoring by Amie McCracken with 10 points. Shannon Steben added seven. Kylie Erickson led the all-stars on the glass with six rebounds. Courtney Ellis pulled down four boards.

WNCC finished the game shooting just under 50 percent from the field, while holding the all-stars to just under 24 percent.

The Cougars enjoyed a 49-30 rebounding advantage in the game.

Lancer All-Stars 13 20 - 33
WNCC (5-2) 46 49 - 95
LANCER ALL-STARS
Kylie Erickson 1, Jackie Onigkeit 2, Amie McCracken 10, Chelsi Lemmon 2, Stacy Folkers 5, Heather Briggs 2, Courtney Ellis 4, Shannon Steben 7.
WNCC
Tanisha Gilmore 5, Amber Kistler 15, Lorena Mediros 4, SeLina Ysac 9, Shaquilah Davis 14, Stormye Everett 23, Janae Willis 4, Tawny Drexler 9, Rachael Ragland 4, Caley Fisher 8.

WNCC men register win against North Lake Community College

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team got back on the winning track with an impressive 71-64 win over North Lake Community College, the NJCAA Division II national champions, Friday at the Air Force Prep Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

WNCC, who trailed 29-28 at halftime, responded with a 43-point second half in getting the win.

WNCC coach Brian Joyce said this was a good win for his ball club, to stop a two-game losing skid.

"We responded well int he second half and got the lead to double figures," he said. "This was a good win for us because the came was relatively close throughout and it is good for us to be a game like this"

The Cougars, 4-2, used strong free throw shooting in the win, going 22-of-31 from the line. North Lake was just 12 of 19. WNCC also canned five 3-pointers, two each from Scott Bamforth and Francisco Cruz.

Bamforth and Cruz were the only Cougars in double figures. Bamforth poured in 15 points, while Cruz had 14.

WNCC will next be in action Saturday at 7 p.m. against an Air Force Base all-star team.

WNCC (4-2) 28 43 -- 71
North Lake 29 -- 35 -- 64
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Lloyd Hickinson 2, Tarell Clark 4, Saul Torrez 2, Daniel Smith 7, Chris Hamblin 6, Scott Bamforth 15, Francisco Cruz 14, Sedrick McBounds 2, Virgil Baker 8, Larry Brown 4, John Bright 5, Ali Djim 2.

WNCC loses bidfor back-to-back national titles as they fall to UA-Fort Smith in four sets

The University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith Lions had an answer for everything the Western Nebraska Community College offense threw at them in ending the Cougar’s bid for back-to-back national championships Friday at the NJCAA national championships in Council Bluffs 25-21, 18-25, 24-26, 19-25.

“I thought they fought for the whole game,” first-year coach Giovana Melo said. “Even when they were behind they were fighting. I just think they did a good job.”

The loss was hard to take for a lot of the Cougars, especially for the three sophomores and two – Fatima Balza and Nayka Benitez – who were on last year’s national championship team. Balza, who finished the contest with 12 kills, was disappointed, but remained upbeat even with the loss.

“Fort Smith is a really good team and we played really good. We tried our best and I am really proud of our team,” the sophomore said. “We did the best that we could. Right now the best we can play for is third place and it is for something.”

The Cougars will face Iowa Western Community College, the No. 1 team in the nation, at 3:30 p.m. for third place. Iowa Western lost in three sets to Blinn College 25-20, 25-18, 25-21. Today’s third place contest will be a battler of No. 1 and 2 seeds, while the championship will pit the No. 3 and 4 teams.

Balza said they just need to come out and play tough to finish third and add another win to the team’s record=setting 58-win season.

“We will play for third place against Iowa Western, who beat us twice this years,” she said. “We just need to go out and play and play for everything. We have nothing to lose. I am raelly proud of our team and proud of my coach for the job we did in the season. I am still happy with the job we did at nationals.”

The match just wasn’t the Cougars for the taking as Fort Smith was a step higher then the Cougars in the final three sets. Still, the Cougars were in reach of winning the match.

In the first game, WNCC only trailed once, after the first point. After that, WNCC was in control, moving out ot a 7-3 lead behind three service points from Balza and frontline hitting and blocking form Kaleinani Kabalis.

WNCC continued excelling as Kabalis servied four points behind, including an ace serve in the opposite corner for a 14-7 lead. Fort Smith fouth back, cutting the lead to 18-17. After a WNCC timeout, WHCC moved ahead off a Paulina Piegza kill and then Kablais and Sabina Piegza each had two service points.

WNCC won the game as Paloma Alvarez hammered home the game winner.

The second game was a little different as Lucia Naj selova served up five straight points, including two aces, to push Fort Smith to a 6-1 lead. WNCC kept fighing back, but Fort Smith kept going on long service runs of two or more points.

The difference in the first and second sets was the Cougars’ inability to stop Fort Smith’s hitting, including sophomroe Fabiane Nass, who had a big match with eight kills, five blocks and eight digs. But, Nass was just one of many Lions that were on their game Friday, digging up practically every hit or pass that WNCC tossed at them.

Still, as well as Fort Smith was playing, WNCC was fighting just as hard. Take the third set for example where WNCC fell behind 14-7 after Janie Price served up four points. Then, later, fell behind 19-13 and it looked as if the Lions would coast to the win.

That wasn’t the case as WNCC fought back. Balza started the comeback with a ance serve and then Kabaliz hammered home a kill to slice the lead to 19-17. Moments later, Sabina Piegza went on a five-point service run, including two aces and two Kabalis kills to put WNCC up 23-20.

WNCC couldn’t hold the lead as a dump kill by the Lion’s setter Najselova stopped the run. Then, sophomroe Morgan Banner served up three points to push Fort Smith back into the lead at 24-23. Kabalis stopped the run, tying the game at 24 with a kill.

WNCC then missed a served – they had 10 for the match – which gamve the ball back to Fort Smith along with game point. Heidi Luks finally ended the match with a kill.

The fourth game was another hard fought set as 15-7 at one time. WNCC started battling back, slicing the lead to 16-12 on a Alvarez kill and service point. WNCC couldn’t find an answer for Fort Smith’s defensive intensity and blocking as the Cougars’ couldn’t string together enough points for the win.

Kabalis paced the Cougars with a double-double, finishing with 17 digs and 16 kills. Kabalis also had nine points in the loss. Balza finished with 12 kills, eight points and two blocks; while Alvarez had 1o kills and three digs. Paulina Piegza also had a nice hitting game, finishing with seven kills.

Also for the Cougars, Benitez had 19 digs and three points; Sabina Piegza had 41 set assists, four digs, eight points and three aces; Gregner Quinones had seven digs, eight points and two aces; and Cami Weimer had two digs.

Melo said right now the team is down after losing their bid for a national title, but they will regroup for the third place match.

“They fought with their hearts and they played with their hearts,” she said. “ It is just hard because they kept fighting with their hearts. Losing is not easy, but they did an awesome job with the fight.”

WNCC sweeps Miami Dade, Northwest Shoals to move into semi-finals

More photos can be found on the Cougar Photo Gallery at wncccougars.albumpost.com

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team knew the last time they faced Miami Dade College last month, they didn’t play at the top of their game.

Thursday night, the Cougars were on the top of their game, registering a three-set sweep over the Sharks 25-20, 25-15, 25-17 to move into the semi-finals of the NJCAA national tournament Friday at 5:30 p.m. It was the second win of the day for the No. 2 ranked Cougars as they opened the tournament with a commanding 25-12, 25-13, 25-14 win against Northwest Shoals community College.

WNCC, 58-3, will now face the University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith in the Final Four. Fort Smith swept through their opponents, dropping Casper College with ease 25-11, 25-14, 25-9, and the escaped Missouri State-West Plains. 25-22, 25-23, 25-22. The other semi-final match will pit Iowa Western Community College, who swept through two opponents easily, against Blinn College, who needed five sets to get by San Jacinto.

The players realize they will need the same type of performance they put on the court against Miami Dade to move into Saturday’s final and a chance for back-to-back national titles.

In fact, Thursday’s quarter final match with Miami Dade was a rematch of last year’s national championship, where the Cougars won in four games. This time, WNCC dominated Miami Dade in the first two sets with strong defense, sizzling serving and timely kills. And, it wasn’t just one player that stood out, it was a total team effort.

“They came out strong and they fought as hard as they could,” WNCC coach Giovana Melo said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more. We had the whole game the whole way. We came ready to play. I think they had a goal in mind, and they are pushing toward their goal. I think they are working hard every single time they get on the court.”

Definitely It was a different type of team that stepped on the court against Miami Dade then when they played the Sharks in October. It was also a different type of team that played in the tournament opener against Northwest Shoals, where they came out flat. This time, against a talented Miami team, the Cougars started strong and finished strong. WNCC never trailed in the first two sets with the Sharks taking their first lead of the match at 14-13 in the third set.

Paloma Alvarez, who led the team with 13 kills against the Sharks, said this win was huge.

“This game was key for us to get to the semi finals, and it showed that we can do it [win another title] and that we have what it takes to do it,” Alvarez, who played a crucial role in both wins, said.

The big key for the Cougars in the Miami Dade win was starting strong, and they did behind a strong serving game, where they missed just six serves the whole match and racked up five aces.

“We had to serve them hard and never back down. We had to Just take everything a point at a time and not get ahead of ourselves and think about the semis,” Alvarez said. “It was an amazing game, seriously, and we were ready for them because they already won against us once in Missouri. That little motivation, that little splinter on our record, was there which we had to take out. It is better to get the win here at nationals.”

The Cougars stormed out of the gate, grabbing a 5-0 lead behind four service points by Gregner Quinones. Miami Dade sliced the lead to one point three times, the last time at 19-18 on a Sandra Mortoya point. WNCC, however, never let the Sharks get into a service run as Kaleinani Kabalis answered with three points, one an ace.

Finally, Alvarez finished off the Sharks as she hammered home a kill after a long rally that included some eye-popping saves by both teams to keep the ball alive from hard hits.

WNCC used that same defensive intensity in the second set, jumping out to a 2-0 lead behind two Nayka Benitez points followed by two pionts by Quinones. Miami Dade fought back slicing the lead to 6-5 and 8-7 before the Cougars opened up the contest behind Kabalis’ hitting and serving. The 5-foot-8 freshman from Hawaii, hammered home two kills and then had two service points, including an ace that hit the top of the net and fell right between two Sharks, who did not take one step to the ball.

The Cougars continued excelling as Quinones had a 5-point service run behind two kills and a block by Alvarez, and a Sabina Piegza setter dink that caught Miami Dade off guard for a 18-10 lead.

Miami Dade sliced the lead to 18-13, but Alvarez changed the Sharks fight back with a kill and then served up three points behind kills from Piegza and Fatima Balza. Kabalis finished off the set with a kill.

WNCC started the third set on a strong note, as Quinones served WNCC to a 5-0 lead. Miami Dade fought back grabbing their first lead of the match at 14-13 and held a 17-15 lead on two points by Sonia Lerma. Melo called a timeout and told her players in the huddle that there was plenty of game left and not to give up and focus.

The motivational speech worked as a service error gave the ball back to WNCC and Balza served the final nine points behind single kills by Kabalis and Sabina Piegza, and three kills by Paulina Piegza, including the match winner.

Alvarez paced the Cougars with 13 kills, seven points and five digs. Balza also picked up double-digit kills, finishing with 11. Balza also had two blocks, seven digs and 11 points.

Also for the Cougars, Benitez had 12 digs and three points; Kabalis ahd 14 digs, two aces, six points and eight kills; Quinones had 11 digs and 16 points; Paulina Piegza had five digs, two blocks and seven kills, and Sabina Piegza had four digs, 31 set assists, three kills and three blocks.

Alvarez said this win shows that they can compete with anyone in the nation.

“That loss [to Miami Dade earlier this year] proved that we were a beatable team and it proved that we have to work harder and just play our game,” she said. “This win tonight shows we can do it if we play together as a team, work hard and fight for every point. If we play tomorrow like we played tonight, nobody can beat us. I am so excited and I am playing for the love of the game, for the fans, and I am playing for myself and the team.”

Alvarez, in fact is having a national tournament to remember after having a clutch performance in the team’s first game of the tourney against Northwest Shoals, where she collected nine points and seven kills.

Alvarez, though, was just one of the highlights as it was another team effort as the Cougars used a strong defensive game once again in the win. WNCC not only kept balls alive with pancake saves, they also had nine ace serves against a Northwest Shoals squad.

Balza, the sophomore that is being courted by Wisconsin, Penn State, Arizona State and South Florida, finished with 11 kills three blocks and five points. Kabalis also had a strong game, finishing with nine kills, five points and nine digs.

Also, Paulina Piegza had six kills; Cami Weimer had four kills; Benites finishing with five points, two aces and five digs; Brooke Blomencamp collecting five points and five digs; Quinones four points; and Sabina Piegza four points, 27 set assists and five digs.

In WNCC's opener, the Cougars started slow, trailing 3-1 and 4-2 off a kill by Megan Springer. After a Sabina Piegza point, Fatima Balza served up three points to push the eald to 6-4. WNCC continued to pick up the offense, behind two kills from Kaleinani Kabalis and then an ace serve by Kabalis for a 9-6 lead.

WNCC continued to excel as Nayka Benitez served six points and then Gering's Blomekamp tossed up two more points as the Cougars rolled to the 25-12 lead.

Blomenkamp heated things up to start in the second set, serving four straight points to give WNCC a 5-1 lead. WNCC kept playing strong, keeping rallies alive, including several nice saves that Balza terminated with a kill.

The third set was a little closer to start with as Northwest Shoals led 6-5 at one time. Kabalis changed things with some heat, hammering a kill. Afterwards, Kabalis had three service points to push the lead to 10-6. Moments later, Gregner Quinones had five service points, as Balza registered a kill and Alvarez had two kills for a 17-9 lead.

Melo said they will need another top performance against Fort Smith like they put on the court against Miami Dade to move into Saturday’s finals.

“I saw them this morning for a little bit and they have a good team,” Melo said. “they have some foreign kids that pound the ball and they have a really good setter. I just know they are a good team after they beat West Plains 2-0.”

WNCC volleyball captures first game of national tournament over Northwest Shoals

The Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team made quick work of Northwest Shoals Community College int eh first round of the NJCAA national tournament behind some sparkling defensive rallies and a 11-kill effort from Fatima Balza.

The defending national champs took out the Lady Patriots 25-12, 25-13, 25-14 and will advance to an afternoon contest against Miami Dade College at 4:30 p.m.. Miami Dade was a 25-19, 26-24, 25-18.

Other first round scores saw University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith drop Casper College 25-11, 25-14, 25-9, and the Missouri State-West Plains fight back from a 2-0 defecit to defeat Salt Lake Community College 24-26, 23-25,25-19, 25-23, 15-8.

In WNCC’s opener, the Cougars started slow, trailing 3-1 and 4-2 off a kill by Megan Springer. After a Sabina Piegza point, Fatima Balza served up three points to push the peald to 6-4. WNCC continued to pick up the offense, behind two kills from Kaleinani Kabalis and then an ace serve by Kabalis for a 9-6 lead.

WNCC’ continue to excel as Nayka Benitez served six points and then Gering’s Brooke Blomekamp tossed up two more points as the Cougars rolled to the 25-12 lead.

Blomenkamp heated things up to start in the second set, serving four straight points to give WNCC a 5-1 lead. WNCC kept playing strong, keeping ralies alive, including several nice saves that balza terminated with a kill.

Paloma Alvarez followed suit in the tame with a kill and then three straight service points for a 20-9 and the Cougars never looked back.

The third set was a little cloer to start with as Northwest Shoals led 6-5 at one time. Kabalis changed things with some heat, hammering a kill. Afterwards, Kabalis had three service points to push the lead to 10-6. Moments later, Gregner Quinones had five service points, as Balza registered a kill and Alvarez had two kills for a 17-9 lead.

After back and fourth points, balza had her 11^th kill of the match and then serviced up three straight points to push the lead to 25-13.

Balza, the sophomore that is being courted by Wisconsin, Penn State, Arizona State and South Plorida, finished with 11 kills three blocks and five points.

The Cougars also had balanced hitting from all the hitters. Kabalis finished with nine kills as well as five points and nine digs.

Also, Alvarez had seven kills nine points, four aces and four digs; Paulina Piegza had six kills; and Cami Weimer had four kills.

Benitez finished the tournament opener with five points, two aces and five digs; Blomencamp ahd five points; Quinones four points; and Sabina Piegza four points, 27 set assists and five digs.

Cougars ready for national tournament wiht hopes of winning a second straight title

The WNCC Cougars have a mission to accomplish this weekend when they compete in their 10th straight national tournament and that is to bring home a second straight national title.

The road, however, will not be an easy chore for last year’s national champs, who enter the NJCAA National Tournament with an eye-popping 56-3 record.

“We are ready for nationals and I told the girls that we have to take one game and one point at a time, and that should take us a long way at the national tournament,” first year coach Giovana said. “If we play hard each point in a match and then if we win that is what we want, but if we lose and I know we played has hard as we cold, that is what I am worried about. We just need to play with heart and see what happens.”

The Cougars open play in the tournament Thursday at 10 a.m. against 38-6 Northwest Shoals College in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Then, if the No. 2 seed Cougars win, they will have face the winner of the Miami Dade College and North Idaho College Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m.

Other first round match-ups in the national tournament include Arkansas-Ft. Smith taking on Casper College and MSUWest Plains facing Salt Lake Community College at 8 a.m.; Iowa Western Community College meeting Spartanburg Methodist and Hillsborough Community College facing Frank Phillips College at noon, and San Jacinto College taking on Hutchinson Community College and Blinn College facing Temple College at 2 p.m.

Melo said she really doesn’t know a whole lot about Northwest Shoals except they were at the national tournament a year ago and have a roster filled with all Alabama players. She said she received a video tape on NW Shoals and will find out a little bit about them from that.

Northwest Shoals, while they are aren’t as tall as the Cougars, are a team they can’t take lightly. The Patriots’ tallest player is freshman Bethany Morgan, who stands 6-0. They also have three other players that stand 5-11. The Patriots are led by 5-8 setter Shannon Thompson, who ranks No. 1 in the nation in setting. Northwest Shoals head coach Angie Byrd, who tarred for Seward County Community College in the late 1990s, said the bread and butter of her team is their defense.

“Tt is all about our defensive side of the our game,” Byrd said. “We played against Hillsborough, who is also in the tournament and lost to them in four, and they had a big hitter and once we capitalized on her, We were able to shut her down a little bit. It is all about having that defensive prowess, which will help us play our game.”

The setting postion will also be vital for the Patriots as well. “Our setter [Shannon Thompson] is very smart,” Byrd said. “She watches the block on te other side of the net and distributes the ball really well. She is really at defense and she has a good serve. With her awareness at the net to see the other side, that helps us out a lot.”

WNCC also brings in an explosive squad to the tournament. Three players are either over or near 500 kills for the season, who are led by sophomore Fatima Balza, who his a handful of kills away from 600 on the season. Kaleinani Kabalis and Paulina Piegza are also nearing the 500 kill mark. Both Kabalis and Piegza are freshman.

The Cougars are also led at the net by freshman setter Sabina Piegza, who is averaging just over 10 assists a set, as well as in the back row by one of the top liberos in the nation in Nayka Benitez. Benitez has nearly 700 digs this season.

“We are a very diverse group and they take it in a good way and learn from each other,” Melo said. “They have a lot of chemistry not on the court by off the court and that is why I am so pleased with how this team has done.”

The Cougars, who won the national tournament a year ago, have won 56 matches this season, as well as being No. 1 in the nation for four weeks before falling to Miami Dade in late October.

WNCC’s other two losses came at the hands of Iowa Western back on Sept. 9 at the Columbus, Neb., Invite.

The Cougars are also 12-0 at the Mid-America Center, where the national tournament will be played, capturing all four matches a year ago, and then went 8-0 in the season-opening tournament this year.

Northwest Shoals, on the other hand, has also put together a nice season, winning their past 11 matches. Their last loss came to Wallace-Hansville in three sets.

Both squads have just one opponent in common -- Hillsborough. Northwest fell to Northwest in four sets, while the Cougars defeated them in two sets.

Northwest also faced national tournament participant Spartanburg Methodist during the season, and defeated then in two sets. WNCC has played a number of national tournament teams this year — eight teams

in fact. The Cougars are 14-3 against national tournament teams, including beating Hutchinson Commnity College and Casper three times. They also competed against West Plains, North Idaho, Salt Lake and Frank Phillips.

WNCC also defeated the No. 1 team in Division II, Kiskwaukee Community College in straight sets, which was the only defeat Kishwaukee suffered all season.

Both teams will be ready when first serve takes off Thursday morning.

“We will be ready,” Byrd said. “Western Nebraska, from what I heard, is a very good team. I think we will match up with them to gove them a pretty good game.”

The contest can be heard on KOZY 101.3 FM as well as the Internet at kozy1013.com.

Green will attend NJCAA national tournament as a recruiter instead of a coach

When Chris Green attends the National Junior College Athletic Association national volleyball tournament this weekend, he will be in a different role then the previous nine years when he guided the Cougars to the big show.

Instead, the former WNCC coach will be one of a spectator, scouting the players for talent has he recruits for his new school, the University of Alaska Anchorage. “I will be at the national tournament to watch so I will definitely be cheering for them,” Green said. “They had a great
season and I hope they play their best in Council Bluffs. It will be great to see them live. I will miss not being on the sideline coaching them, but I wish them the best of luck. Bringing home another national championship would be a great accomplishment.”

The Cougars enter the national tournament with a 56-3 record and have hopes of bringing home a second straight national tournament. And, while Green will be in the stands watching, he said he still followed Cougar volleyball.

“Yes, I still follow them. It was crazy to see them unranked when the pre-season polls came out,” he said. “I am glad they showed everyone that they are a national title contender again. I think the hiring of Giovana [Melo] was a great decision by Jennifer Pedersen [athletic director]. I think Coach G will keep the program at the top as long as she coaches at WNCC.”

While Melo has WNCC hitting on all cylinders, Green has the Seawolves program making vast improvements over the past couple of seasons. UAA finished the season 15-13 and upset regionally-ranked Central Washington in five sets in the team’s second to last match of the season. UAA also fell to No. 18 Western Washington in five sets.

The Seawolves also had some top performances during the season as Calli Scott was named newcomer of the year in the GNAC conference. They also received a first-team selection in Rhea Cardwell, who tallied 62 kills in the final two matches of the season, as well as an honorable mention pick from Cortney Lundberg, a transfer from Miles Community College.

“The players here were anxious to win,” he said. “You have to give them the credit for getting the job done. We actually lost four matches 15-13 in the fifth set, so our record could have been quite a bit better if we could have found a way to earn a point or two.”

Another player that contributed immensely is former WNCC and Gering High player Stacie Meisner. Meisner had over 500 digs from the libero position, averaging nearly five digs a set.
“Stacie did a great job as a libero for us this year. She was a big reason why we were able to get the wins that we did,”

Green said. “She has fit in well with all her teammate and did a great job in serve receive and on defense.”

Green is expecting even bigger things next year.

“We brought in three good JUCO players in Stacie Meisner, Cortney Lundberg (Miles City) and Calli Scott (Glendale C.C.), but there was a pretty good group of players already here, too,” he said. “We were hoping for a winning season, and so we are expecting to get the turnaround started this year.”

One of the reasons the Seawolves excelled this year was because not only of Green’s successful coaching, but also the team defense.

“We were a defensive team and I think our defense stymied a lot of our opponents,” he said. “They had a hard time putting a kill down to the floor against us. We had a lot of seniors who showed good leadership and had the experience and maturity necessary to get some of those wins.

“We lose five seniors this year so we will be recruiting hard the next few months. But we have a good nucleus returning, so I think we have a chance next season to be much better.”

And Green’s recruiting will take a turn to Council Bluffs and the NJCAA national tournament, where the last time he coached a junior college team, he led them to the national title. He said that there is a difference of coaching in the two-year and four-year ranks.

“Volleyball is volleyball and I think the biggest difference is that every team in our conference is a team that can beat you if you don’t bring your ‘A’ game. That wasn’t true at WNCC. There were times when we didn’t play well but still got the ‘W’.”

Green, however, doesn’t have any regrets about moving up north to try his hand at the four-year level. In fact, he really enjoys the outdoor activity up north.

“It is beautiful up here. The weather was nice up until October. It has been cold, but not below zero yet,” he said. “The hiking, biking and skiing are great and if you are an outdoor sports type of person, than this is definitely a place to live or visit.”

Green still breathes a little blue and gold and need down, he still has the heart and passion to say, “Go Cougars.”

WNCC basketball teams drop games at Husky Classic

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s basketball teams found the going a little rough in the final day of the Husky Classic at the Air Force Preporatory School in Colorado Springs, Colo., Saturday.

The Cougar men suffered a 92-81 defeat at the hands of the Colorado All-stars, a team that went 3-0 in the tournament. The All-stars are former RMAC and Division I players that have played together for a while.

The Cougar women, on the other hand, suffered their second defeat of the season, falling to Barton County Community College 72-60. The Cougar women were playing short-handed due to injuries. SeLina Ysac didn’t make the trip, nursing an ankle injury, while Michelle Lighthall injured a knee on Friday and Juliana Bassetto injuried an ankle in Saturday’s contest.

“We got within nine with seven minutes to play, but we couldn’t get any closer,” assistant coach Jennifer Pedersen said.

The women fell behind 42-26 at halftime. Pedersen said one of the reasons for the loss was shooting. WNCC was 23-52 from the 2-point area in shooting, and made just 2 of 10 from behind the arc. The Cougars were also 8 of 15 from the free throw line.

Freshman Stormye Everett paced the Cougars with 15 points including three assists and three steals. Lorena Medairos, a sophomore, led the team with eight rebounds.

Freshmen Amber Kistler and Rachael Ragland and sophomore Shaquilah Davis each finished with nine points each.

The Cougar men also didn’t fair well the shooting category. WNCC was 29 of 58 from the field, and made just 4 of 12 from the 3-point arc. The Cougars were also 11 of 25 from the charity stripe.

WNCC coach Brian Joyce said they played well, just couldn’t get the win.

“They are a group of older players that are not your typical all-star team because they have played together for some time,” he said. “We did play well, but we just didn’t shoot free throws well. We just couldn’t get over the hump.”

Four Cougars finished with double figure scoring. Scott Bamfroth paced the team with 15 points followed by Tarell Clark with 14, Larry Brown with 13 and Francisco Cruz with 10.

The WNCC men, 3-2, will next be in action Friday through Sunday when they head back to Colorado Springs for the Prep Tournament. WNCC will face North Lake Community College, the Division III national champions, on Friday before facing the same Colorado All-star team on Saturday and then Colorado Northwestern on Sunday.

The Cougar women, 4-2, will take part in the EWC tournament Friday and Saturday with games slated for 1 p.m. both days. Both teams will then head home for the TEAM Chevrolet Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 28-29 at Cougar Palace.

Women’s Game
WNCC (4-2) 26 34 – 60
Barton County 42 30 – 72
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 9, Lorena Medairos 2, Shaquilah Davis 9, Stormye Everett 15, Janae Willis 8, Tawny Drexler 3, Rachael Ragland 9, Caley Fisher 5.
Three-pointers: WNCC 2 (Ragland, Fisher).

Men’s Game
WNCC (3-2) 30 51 – 81
Colorado All-stars 44 48 – 92
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Lloyd Hickinson 2, Tarell Clark 14, Saul Torres 1, Daniel Smith 5, Chris Hamblin 7, Scott Bamforth 15, Francisco Cruz 10, Sedrick McBounds 8, Larry Brown 13, John Bright 6.

Former Cougar Chelsea Lyles scores 16 points in FGSU win over Florida Friday night

FORT MYERS, Fla. - FGCU's Adrianne McNally and Chelsea Lyles led the Eagles with 22 points and 16 points, repectively, as the Eagles upset the Gators of Florida in front of 2,866 fans in Alico Arena in the 08-09 season-opener.

The Eagles led by as many as 13 points, 71-58, with 11 minutes to go, and survived a UF rally, that found them down two points with less than six minutes remaining. From there, FGCU used their patented outside shooting, especially from Adrianne McNally (Howell, Mich.) who banked in a key 3-pointer as the shot-clock expired with 2:30 left that gave the Eagles an 83-80 advantage.

McNally's shot fired up FGCU and its crowd, which was on its feet for the remainder of the game.

McNally's 22 points were a career-high, while Lyles (Colorado Springs, Colo., and Western Nebraska Community College), who also collected seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks, contributed 16 points in her FGCU debut while hitting 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-8 from the three-point line. Shannon Murphy (Brighton, Mich.) added 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, along with a game-high two steals. Courtney Chihil (Tipp City, Ohio) scored 14 points in her collegiate debut for FGCU, which shot 50.0 percent from the floor and hit 12-of-21 three-pointers, while forcing the Gators into 18 turnovers. Former WNCC Cougar Emma Beddome started the contest and saw 16 minutes of action, but did not score.

Lyles tallied 13 first-half points to lead the Eagles as FGCU led 45-37 at halftime. The Eagles used sharp outside shooting to build the lead, hitting 53.3 percent (16-30) from the field, including 5-of-10 from the 3-point arc and 8-of-11 from the free throw line.

After the teams traded buckets twice to start the game, FGCU used an 11-0 run over a 3:18 span to take a 13-4 lead just under five minutes into the game. Florida cut the deficit down to four points, but Lyles canned a trey to give the Eagles a seven-point lead.

The teams exchanged field goals, before FGCU marched off a 15-5 run in a little less than six minutes to take a 40-30 lead with 3:07 remaining. The two squads then traded scores for the rest of the half, as the Eagles took the nine-point advantage into the locker room.

FGCU now heads to Tallahassee to take on the Seminoles, in a rematch of last season's home opener. The game is scheduled to start at 2:00 pm on Sunday, November 16.

WNCC will hold sendoff/celebration for volleyball team Monday

Western Nebraska Community College will be holding a sendoff/celebration for the No. 2 Cougar volleyball team Monday at 9:50 a.m. in the Pit area of the College. The short presentation will introduce the team and have speeches from different people. The public is invited to help celebrate and cheer on the Cougar players and coaches.

The Cougars, 56-3, will be making their way to Council Bluffs, Iowa, Tuesday morning to compete in the NJCAA national tournament with hopes of defending their national title they won last year.

WNCC opens play in the tournament Thursday morning at 10 a.m. MST against Northwest Shoals College.

WNCC women down Northern Oklahoma, men fall to Air Force Prep

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s basketball teams saw different results in its second-day contests at the Air Force Prep Tournament Friday in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Cougar men suffered their first loss of the season, falling to a talented Air Force Prep squad 79-77, despite putting five players in double figures.

The Cougar women, on the other hand, put Thursday’s overtime win behind them and ran all over Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa 85-46 to improve to 4-1 on the season.

“We started off pretty slow and we didn’t make a run until six minutes to go in the half when the score was tied. We then opened it up,” assistant coach Jennifer Pedersen said. “We actually got into a running game, which is more our style of play in the second half. Everybody resonded really well and we pushed the ball really well.”

The Cougar women held a 38-24 lead at halftime and then opened up the contest by outscoring Nortern Oklahoma 47-21 in the second half.

“We had a lot of steals as a team and we are a fast-paced team,” Pedersen said. “Last night Air Force Prep really slowed the game down on us, which caused us to get out of our traditional mix. The kids really passed the ball well on the court tonight.”

WNCC registered 18 steals as a team as Bayard’s Amber Kistler led the way with seven steals followed by Storyme Everett with four steals. Kistler also popped in 12 points, while Everett led all scorers with 16 points.

Shaquilah Davis was the only other Cougar to register double-digit scoring with 13 points. Davis was also 4-of-4 from the free throw line, while Kister was 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.

Tawny Drexler had a near double-double, finishing with a team leading 10 rebounds. The sophomore also had nine points. Janae Willis finished the contest with eight rebounds and nine points.

The Cougar also women also clicked from behind the arc, nailing five treys as five different players buried a trey – Kistler, Davis, Everett, Caley Fisher and Tanisha Gilmore.

Unlike the women’s team, the Cougar men were on the opposite side of the scoreboard. WNCC led Air Force Prep 39-37 at halftime only to fall behind by nine points in the second half. WNCC coach Brian Joyce said his did show a lot to come back and take the lead with about 30 seconds to play, only to watch Air Force Prep cash in on a huge 3-pointer to get the win.

“Air Force Prep is a good team. They have one of the most talented teams that I have seen,” WNCC coach Brian Joyce said.

WNCC was 24 of 56 from the field, but only made one of seven shots behind the arc. The Cougar men shot 18 of 27 from the free throw in the contest.

Freshman Tarell Clark paced all Cougars with 17 points followed by Larry Brown with 14, Sedrick McBounds with 13, and Francisco Cruz and Scott Bamforth with 10 points each.

The Cougars, 3-1, will look to get back on track in a 1 p.m. contest today against the Colorado All-stars, a team that Joyce said is very talented. Joyce said the all-star team was leading Miles by about 50 at halftime. WNCC defeated Miles 74-49 on Thursday.

The Cougar women will finish the Prep Tournament with a 4 p.m. contest against Barton County Community College. Pedersen said Barton County is not a bad team.

“Last year Barton was one of the better games we played. They play in the Jayhawk Conference and are used to competitive games each night,” Pedersen said. “We haven’t been able to see them play yet, but they are a strong team. We really need to be on our toes. We really need help from our bench as well.”

Men’s Game

WNCC (3-1) 39 38 – 77

Air Force Prep 37 42 – 79

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Tarell Clark 17, Larry Brown 14, Sedrick McBounds 13, Francisco Cruz 10, Scott Bamforth 10, Daniel Smith 7, Chris Hamblin 4, John Bright 2.

Women’s Game

WNCC (4-1) 38 47 – 85

N. Oklahoma-Tonkawa 24 21 – 45

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Tanisha Gilmore 5, Amber Kistler 12, Lorena Medairos 8, Shaquilah Davis 13, Storyme Everett 16, Janae Willis 9, Tawny Drexler 9, Rachael Ragland 6, Caley Fisher 6, Juliana Bassetta 2.

Former Cougars Beddome, Lyles to start Friday tonight against Florida

ESTERO — Ready or not, here they come.

Florida Gulf Coast University's women, 10 of whom are new to Karl Smesko's program, have struggled mightily to digest the Eagles' basketball system, but at least they finally picked up the intensity this week.

That's a good thing because the Eagles host Florida for the first time in program history when the season tips off tonight at Alico Arena at 7.

Smesko, who led the Eagles to 17 wins in their last 19 games after a terribly slow start in last season's first Division I campaign, would love to have had more time to prep for this. As of mid-week, FGCU, which has zero seniors and returns only one starter and two players with any significant experience, still had not formulated an inbounds play against man-to-man defense. The learning curve still is tall. And what he expected to be a bevy of 3-point shooters mostly have been clanging. The newcomers have yet to dress out for a Division I appearance (in fact, their uniforms finally arrived Wednesday) because Smesko opted to go with scrimmages rather than exhibitions to give his players more pointers and court time.

"It would be good to have more time to prepare because I think this team can be pretty good," Smesko said. "But to get ready in a few weeks when there are so many new players has been difficult. We'll get out there and start learning about different players, what they do under game pressure. It's hard for a coach to be comfortable when you go in with a bunch of players you haven't been through games with."

FGCU's tallest player is 6-foot -- in heels.

Asked if FGCU has a shot tonight -- and if so, how -- 5-11 Eagles junior forward Adrianne McNally, the returning starter who averaged 10.8 points and 5.3 rebounds last season, shrugged.

"To be honest, I don't know," McNally said. "I really don't."

Smesko scratched his head at the same questions. Eventually, he came around to a 66-52 win at North Alabama, a Division II power of sorts, in 2005, as an example of how strangely things can play out.

"You never know what's going to happen," Smesko said. "Sometimes the kids can surprise you. We had been practicing their stuff and we were not executing at all. But it all came together the day of the game. The things we were defending, we defended it perfectly. Offensive sets, where we weren't looking like we were supposed to look, suddenly we're finding it.

"Will that happen? I don't know. But it's possible. Maybe the kids have learned more than they let on and will be more focused at game time."

FGCU starters tonight will be McNally, sophomore point guard Shannon Murphy, freshman guard Courtney Chilhil, junior guard/forward Emma Beddome, a transfer from Western Nebraska Community College, and 6-0 junior center Chelsea Lyles, also a transfer from Western Nebraska CC.

Florida, which went 19-14 in Amanda Butler's first season, returns four starters, including senior Marshae Dotson, a 5-11 first-team All-Southeastern Conference slection who averaged 13.1 points and 7.9 rebounds last season, and guard Sha Brooks, also an All-SEC first teamer. There are four seniors and only one true freshman on the roster.

"Very good team," Smesko said. "There's just a big difference. They're coming in with a team that's full of experienced returners -- only had to throw one or two players into the mix -- where we're replacing four starters, adding all kinds of new players and just trying to teach how we play here at this point.

"Coach Butler had them tremendously improved last year and there's no reason not to expect them to be even more considerably improved this season."

Smesko would know. In fact, he knows the Gators inside and out, since FGCU lost twice at Florida last season -- 78-52 on Dec. 4 and 60-55 in a WNIT second-rounder -- as the Eagles finished with a 22-9 record (12-3 in the Atlantic Sun Conference).

The second game not only helped the Eagles' confidence for this -- although McNally and Smesko are quick to point out this is an entirely different FGCU team -- but it gives FGCU one of its lone advantages because Florida knows few specifics about its foe. But Butler knows FGCU will spread the floor on offense looking for backdoor opportunities and drives, launch a load of 3-pointers from all positions, and clamp down on the Gators defensively.

"They are a tough team to scout because last year they lost a lot of seniors," Butler said. "However, they have a system that is very challenging to defend. They have great balanced players who are very versatile. They have post players that can step out and hit the 3 and can score off the dribble. I really respect the job that Karl does and we know we’ll face a team Friday that fully expects to beat us."

Smesko won't try to trap the Gators -- "their guards are too quick," he said -- because he sees that turning into a layup drill.

Rebounding, a concern, will be key tonight against a team with two 6-4 centers. As will help defense. Offensively,

Smesko wants Florida's bigs to play in space. Ball control also will be critical.

"To have a shot, No. 1, we have to take care of the ball much better than we have in practice," Smesko said. "Turnovers would have to be low. Shooting percentage -- especially from 3 -- would have to be high. We have to compete on the boards. If we get an offensive rebound, it gives us another opportunity to shoot. If they get a rebound, it's usually a foot from the basket, two points."

Murphy, who started 11 games last season, averaging 6.2 points, said this season -- and tonight -- is "up in the air." Like Smesko, she has no idea how the younger players will react to game speed and electricity. Along with McNally, she'll be working not only against the Gators, but to help calm her young teammates. But she does believe the Eagles have a shot.

"It's going to help because we know the personnel, the way they play," Murphy said. "We improved 40 points (against Florida) throughout the year and we could do it this year. Adrianne and I are going to try to keep (the youngsters) poised, and we'll see how it goes.

"We know they use a lot of ball screens and obviously they have 6-4 posts. We have to guard ball screens, keep the ball under control and keep the post in position. Rebounding for our team is always huge. We want them to make tough shots -- spin moves, fade-away jumpers. If we can make some shots, maybe it will be a competition."

Butler's team lost Friday's lone home exhibition, 71-62, against DT-3, a team of former collegians. Florida trailed 40-26 at the half and was outrebounded and out of sync. The lone "bright spot," Butler said, was the play of 5-10 junior guard Steffi Sorensen, who had eight points and six rebounds. Sorensen started as a freshman at FGCU, averaging 14.5 points for a team team that went 34-1 and into the Division II national championship game. As an illustration of Florida's talent, Sorensen doesn't start. But she'll certainly be into tonight's game.

"I think this will be a very emotional game, especially for Steffi Sorensen, who started her career there and now she's with us," Butler said. "There are a lot of different angles to this story that makes this game very interesting."

Butler believes her team will have its hands full.

"I think it’s going to be a tremendous challenge," she said. "I have a ton of respect for Coach Smesko and the way he recruits and the way that he coaches his team. If you’re looking at two teams and evaluating us in terms of momentum, they definitely have the advantage. This is a team that didn’t have a preseason exhibition and is coming off their first season in D-I, which was preceded by going to the national championship game in D-II.

"They had a fantastic D-I debut by ending up in postseason play … they knock off South Florida (67-65 at home in a WNIT first rounder) and play us very close here at home. I fully expect them to give us a huge challenge."

Home-court advantage should help the Eagles (Florida has lost six of nine season openers on the road), especially if a crowd close to Alico Arena's 4,500 capacity shows.

"Maybe the girls won't be as nervous (at home)," Murphy said. "It's quite an advantage because our fans are right there near the floor and a lot of people support us."

Said Butler: "Playing at their place is certainly going to be a challenge. I think their arena holds 4,500 people, and I expect there to be at least 4,500 people there cheering against the Gators. It’s going to be a tough environment and a good test for our kids early on. If you want to be a great team you have to be able to win games on the road."

Smesko relishes having home-court advantage. But he'd like it even more next season.

"I like the fact we've been able to get some big teams in Alico," Smesko said. "I hope we're able to do that again next year. We'll be in the exact opposite position here next year. We don't have a senior on the team. If we could get a big-name school who's going through something like we are this year, a lot of turnover, trying to teach kids a new system, we could make a really special moment."