WNCC women fall to NJC 69-67

 In a battle of top 20 ranked teams, the No. 19 Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team let a win slip through their fingers Saturday afternoon in the final home game for four sophomores, falling to No. 17 Northeastern Junior College 69-67.
                The Cougars, who held a commanding 25-16 lead early in the game, held two and three point leads late in the game, but couldn’t seal the deal as the Plainswomen out-rebounded the Cougars 56-37.
                “It wasn’t shooting the ball tonight, it was rebounding the ball. We got out-rebounded by 20 and gave up 23 offensive rebounds and we didn’t have a desire to rebound the ball and control the boards. They seemed like they wanted it more than we did and when you get out-rebounded by 20, you are lucky to even lose by two.”
                WNCC got up early by 2551-6 as Carolina Alves connected on a 3-pointer with 12:50 to play. The Cougars then went scoreless over the next four minutes before Kyra Peterson took an assist from Shelby Campbell to stop the scoring slump. WNCC held a slim 38-36 lead at halftime.
                The second half saw a back and forth game played between the two teams. NJC took their first lead in the contest since early in the first half when they went on a 6-0 run that was capped by a 3-pointer by Alicia Nichols for a 48-44 lead.
                WNCC came back with a 6-0 run of their own to retake the lead. Both teams traded buckets from there until NJC started to pull away, going up 64-60 on a Lynnae Cox 3-pointer with 4:32 to play. NJC led 68-64 with just under two minutes to play before WNCC made a comeback, cutting the lead to 68-65 with a 1:34 to play. The Cougars had opportunities to score but couldn’t get the bucket. Peterson finished off the game by bringing the score to two points with two free throws with a second to play.
                WNCC shot 38 percent from the field and was 33 percent from the 3-point area. They were also 58 percent from the free throw line (17 of 29). NJC was 6 of 14 from beyond the arc and were 15 of 27 from the free throw line.
                Peterson led the Cougars with 16 points, including two 3-pointers, while Alves had 15 points and eight rebounds. Campbell also had a good game in her final game at Cougar Palace with eight rebounds, seven points and four steals. Lisa Durden chipped in nine points, while Thais Pinto had eight points.
                WNCC will next be in action at the Region IX tournament in Casper, Wyo., beginning Saturday.

NJC                        36 33 – 69
WNCC (26-4)      38 29 – 67
NORTHEASTERN COLORADO
Adaugo Osuala 6, Ayana Smith 6, Audra Parmer 1, Lynnae Cox 8, Ashley North 12, Alicia Nichols 10, Brooke Baker 1, Morgon Fox 4, Hannah Pollart 9, Maty Diallo 12.
WNCC
Shelby Campbell 7, Tiffany Moorer 5, Lisa Durden 9, Kyra Peterson 16, ChaCha Ofoegbu 5, Danachia Johnson 2, Thais Pinto 8, Carolina Alves 15.