Story courtesy of Dave Brunz, Star-Herald Sports Reporter
The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team showcased a balanced attack on both offense and defense as the Cougars downed the Colorado Christian JV squad 77-43 Thursday night at Cougar Palace.
The win extends the Cougars’ season to 5-1 overall.
“Tonight’s game showed some balanced scoring,” WNCC sophomore Kyra Peterson said after the game. “You can see we’re all contributing. We are doing pretty well with getting our offense and defense situated.”
Despite a sluggish start to the first half, the Cougars found some rhythm midway through when Leona Garrett hit a 3-pointer that sparked a 13-1 Cougar run to put them up 27-16 late in the half. Colorado Christian was only able to muster nine more points in the frame after that, while WNCC closed it out with a 10-2 run to extend the lead, 41-25 at halftime.
Although Colorado Christian showed signs of life in the first half by going 9 of 20 from the field and 50 percent from the 3-point line, WNCC stiffened up and held Christian to just 18 second-half points and 34.7 percent shooting for the game. Additionally, WNCC played a clean second half after not allowing a Colorado Christian JV free throw in the second half.
Peterson, who finished the night with 13 points, said that this year’s squad has really stepped up on defense, and is playing a lot better in the paint, which helps to jumpstart their offensive production.
“Our defense is getting to the point where other teams know that Western Nebraska is a threat,” she said. “We are finally rebounding again. We are blocking out well and it shows that we are tough defensively. That leads to our offensive play.”
The second half was all WNCC.
Up 45-30, the Cougars got the train rolling again when Kelsey Doddridge converted the three-point foul early on in the half. After free throws by Garrett and Jessica Aratani, WNCC erupted again for a 21-6 run to close out the game.
WNCC won the battle of the boards on the night after out-rebounding Colorado Christian 39-23, more than doubling the Christian JV squad 48.4 percent to 22.6 percent on the offensive side.
WNCC was equally impressive off the bench, out-scoring the Colorado Christian JV’s 34-7 in the contest.
The Cougars were led by a pair of sophomores as Peterson and Samantha Sanders tallied 13 points apiece. Additionally, Sanders added eight assists, while Peterson finished with three.
Colorado Christian JV was paced by Laura Magee with 15 points and five rebounds, while Staci Davis followed with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Cougars will next see action when they take on Fort Carson Army Base on Saturday at 2 p.m.
CCJV 25 18 — 43
WNCC (5-1) 41 36 — 77
CCJV — Magee 15, Davis 10, Haleigh Spaulding 5, Sloane Lindsey 5, Erika Heckman 4, Joelle Anderson 2, Kelsie Hert 2.
WNCC — Samantha Sanders 13, Kyra Peterson 13, Kelsey Doddridge 10, Ajsa Zdove 9, Leona Garrett 8, ChaCha Ofoegbu 7, Jessica Aratani 7, Idil Ozbayrak 6, Lisa Durden 2, Jasmine Shaffer 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment