WNCC women outshoot Colby for 4th win of season

COLBY, Kan. -- The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team jumped out to a 20-2 lead and never looked back in eclipsing Colby Community College 67-49 in the second day of the Ambassador Classic in Colby, Kan.

WNCC coach Dave Harnish was pleased with the effort, especially second half, of what his ball club did in registering their fourth win of the season.

"We got off to a good start. We were up 20-2 with nine minutes to go in the half and then we scored two points the rest of the half," he said. "But, again, I thought the defense was good all night. We did shoot it better in the second half. The first half we shot 27 percent and the second half we shot 44 percent. We shot it better, defended better, got some steals and pressed the entire second half and kind of opened it up."

The big difference in the second half was the Cougars' defensive intensity, which helped the Cougars score at a consistent level. They also hit the boards, out-rebounding the Trojans 37-25, including 16-5 on the offensive glass.

Another area that pleased Harnish was the team's free throw shooting, where they finished 13-of-19 for 68 percent. In the team's previous three games, they shot 50 percent or below from the charity stripe.

WNCC also had balanced scoring with three players in double figures. Leona Garrett paced the team with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. Samantha Sanders led the Cougars overall with 13 points, while Tiffany Moorer finished with 11 points. Kyra Peterson, Shelby Campbell and ChaCha Ofoegbu each had eight points.

Harnish said he is expecting to get this kind of balanced scoring night in and night out, considering they are playing without Thais Pinto, the 6-foot-7 center, who is averaging 20 points a game.

"It is typical to have that kind of balanced scoring," he said. "We still have to learn to play without Thais because we are losing 20 points a game. But, Leona did a better job tonight. I thought we made a lot of progress the second half. We played hard and I am hoping it carries over to Saturday.

WNCC will finish off the Ambassador Classic with a 1 p.m. contest against Hastings College junior varsity.

WNCC (4-0) 22 45 -- 67
Colby 16 33 -- 49
WNCC
Carolina Alves 6, Shelby Campbell 8, Leona Garrett 11, ChaCha Ofoegbu 8, DaNae Quijas 2, Samantha Sanders 13, Kyra Peterson 8, Tiffany Moorer 11.

--