WNCC coach Dave Harnish said it was a night his team played well in the first half and then they went on a scoring slump while giving up some key buckets that hurt them in the end.
"It wasn't a terrible game that we played. We had a lead pretty much through the first half and got it to eight or nine in the second half," he said. "We kind of controlled the game before we gave up some threes and made some defensive mistakes. They then made that run and got the lead on us. We just made some mistakes defensively which typically we don't do. Basically, we shot the ball terribly at 52 percent from the free throw line and we couldn't make a 3-point shot. They were giving us the shot, but we just weren't knocking them down. We struggled in making shots."
WNCC held a 48-39 lean on a Leona Garrett 3-pointer and a Thais Pinto offensive rebound with about eight minutes to play. That was when Casper kicked it into another gear, ripping off 18 points on three 3-pointers by Lindsey Fearing and a trey by Ashley Hutchinson.
Darachia Johnson stopped the run by nailing a 3-pointer with 3:38 to play. Johnson's jumper started a 7-0 run that sliced the lead to 57-56. Casper kept the lead, pushing the lead to 62-58 with under 30 seconds to play.
That was when the Cougars had some defensive magic as they got a steal and Shelby Campbell had an easy lay-in with 15.3 seconds in regulation. Moments later, WNCC got another steal and Samantha Sanders tied the game with 3.1 seconds left at 62-62 to force overtime.
Harnish said he was happy that his team found a way to get the game into the extra five minutes.
"I was pleased that the kids kept competing to get the game into overtime," he said. "But, through that stretch where Casper got up big on us, we gave up three 3-pointers, almost back-to-back-to-back. We just weren't solid defensively tonight, which has carried us through nights when we don't shoot the ball well."
In the extra period, Casper went out to a 65-62 lead on three free throws and led 67-64 moments later. WNCC cut the lead to 67-66 on two Tiffany Moorer free throws. Casper then worked the shot clock down to the wire and Hutchinson buried a shot to put the T-Birds up 69-66.
Sanders then hit one of two free throws with 44 seconds to cut the lead by tw, but Fearing hit a clutch bucket just as the shot clock was about to expire to put the T-Birds up four. Fearing sealed the upset win with two free throws with 2.2 seconds to play.
The difference in the game as shooting. The Cougars shot a dismal 31 percent from the field and was just 54 percent from the free throw line. Casper was a touch better, shooting 42 percent from the field but was much better from the charity stripe, going 11 of 17.
Up until Casper's 18-1 run, the Cougars were playing well. In the first half, WNCC pushed the lead to 24-15 before Casper went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 24-22. Shelby Jones and Kyra Peterson brought the Cougars mack with back-to-back 3-pointers. Casper came right back, scoring eight points to cut the lead to 30-29 on a Jasmine Belin 3-pointer.
Peterson nailed a trey and Moorer had a bucket to help the Cougars take a 35-31 lead into halftime.
In the early part of the second half, WNCC led 43-26 before Casper changed everything with their 18-1 run.
Casper was paced by Fearing with 24 points followed by Sherece Huddlin with 14 points.
WNCC had two players finish with double digits. Moorer and ChaCha Ofoegbu each had 11 points followed by Peterson and Carolina Alves with eight points each. Thais Pinto paced the team with 10 rebounds.
Harnish said they know what they need to work on for their next games.
"You never like to lose, but there is a lot of things we need to get better at," he said. "We have to shoot the ball better. We got out-rebounded offensively and we have to take those things and go work on those things and we can get better. If we don't, we will continue to have problems.
WNCC will be back in action Saturday when they open sub-region play by hosting Northeast (Neb.) Community College on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
"It hurts to lose, but the biggest game of the year will be Saturday which is a sub-region game," Harnish said. "That is most important game of the year and it is more important than this one. Hopefully, we will gather and get after it in practice this week and get ready for Saturday.
WNCC (17-1) 35 27 5 -- 67
Casper (13-7 30-32-11 -- 73
CASPER COLLEGE
Sherece Huddlin 14, Rosalie Cutri 5, Jasmine Belin 9, Lindsey Fearing 24, Marlianne Louzeiro 6, Ashley Hutchinson 7, KeAroow Jenkins 8.
Sherece Huddlin 14, Rosalie Cutri 5, Jasmine Belin 9, Lindsey Fearing 24, Marlianne Louzeiro 6, Ashley Hutchinson 7, KeAroow Jenkins 8.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Tiffany Moorer 11, Thais Pinto 6, Shelby Campbell 4, Leona Garrett 6, ChaCha Ofoegbu 11, Darachia Johnson 5, Kyra Peterson 8, Shelby Jones 3, Carolina Alves 8, Samantha Sanders 5.
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