Cougar women hold on for sixth win

Submitted by Jeremy Woznick, Star-Herald Sports Reporter

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team survived a late scare against Air Force Junior Varsity to post its sixth win of the season in the opening day of the Air Force Prep Tournament Thursday night in Colorado Springs, Colo.

After having their 10-point, second-half lead dwindled to just a single point in the final minute, the Cougars watched as a last-second jumper by Air Force bounced off the mark giving WNCC a 46-45 win.

“We almost gave it away,” WNCC coach Dave Harnish said. “We turned it over a couple times and fouled a little too much to let them get right back in it late. But it was good that we won and hopefully we can learn from it. It was a good win for us. We played hard against a very good team.”

Harnish, who went over the 600-win mark at WNCC just a couple weeks ago, said he was most pleased with the type of defense his team played on Thursday.

“We played great defense to hold them to just 45 points,” Harnish said. “They’re an upper-level team and I just thought we played great defensively all night long.”

WNCC, now a perfect 6-0 on the season, held a 26-24 advantage at halftime. The Cougars knocked down 9 of 13 free throws in the opening half, but didn’t get to the line at all in the second half.

Offensively, Carolina Alves paced the Cougars with 12 points.

“Carol has done a good job giving us a scoring punch and being a leader as a sophomore early on,” Harnish said of Alves. “She’s stepping up big for us.”

Shelby Campbell netted nine points and Tiffany Moorer added six.

For the fourth straight game, WNCC played without 6-foot-7 sophomore Thais Pinto. Pinto, who led the Cougars in scoring in the first two games of the season, suffered a stress fracture and probably won’t return until January.

“Having Thais out has really hurt us inside. She averaged 20 points a game for us and she’s a huge force defensively. She was playing well for us,” Harnish said. “But we’re learning to play without her better and it’s allowing some other kids to step up and get more minutes. When we do get her back it’s going to make us a better team because other kids have had to play in her spot. We’re developing better depth.”

WNCC will be back on the court Saturday against Trinidad State Junior College. Tip off is scheduled for 3 p.m.

WNCC (6-0)                26 20 — 46
Air Force JV                24 21 — 45
WNCC
Samantha Sanders 4, Shelby Campbell 9, Tiffany Moorer 6, Kyra Peterson 5, ChaCha Ofoegbu 5, Darachia Johnson 3, Leona Garrett 2, Carolina Alves 12