The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team avenged its only loss of the season with another steller defensive effort in running past Colorado Northwestern Community College 70-40 in the first day of the Thanksgiving Classic at Cougar Palace on Thursday.
It was the Cougars fifth straight contest holding their opponent in low 40s. Offensively, WNCC placed three players in double figures led by Morrill graduate Jessica Aratani with 19 points. Kyra Peterson also popped in 17 points while Ajsa Zdovc with 11 points. All three players also led the team in rebounding with eight rebounds each.
WNCC coach Dave Harnish said not only these three players, but the entire team is showing improvement.
“We had two freshmen score in double figures and it is nice to see those girls step up early in the season. Jessica has really improved. We put her in the starting lineup and she has really improved game after game. But I think the whole team has. Kyra will be there night in and night out and Ajsa is improving.”
Harnish said he liked the way they we played defense, especially their intensity. In fact the Cougars’ defensive effort was a marked improvement over the Spartans back on Nov. 10 when CNCC handed the Cougars their only loss of the season 57-56 in overtime.
“Our defense has been solid [since the loss] and I think we were solid all night long,” he said. “I thought the defensive effort especially the last two to three minutes before halftime was key, which caused three turnovers for easy lay ups. That really changed the game going in leading by 12 at halftime. I thought the defense was solid all night but we still turned the ball over too much at times and still making some mistakes. Still, it is a good win for us. It is a team that beat us two weeks ago and this win shows our improvement in terms of we are getting better.”
The last five minutes of the first half was the telling point of the contest. WNCC held a slim 21-19 lead and then all of a sudden the Cougars excelled offensively and defensively, outscoring the Spartans 13-3, including some clutch free throw shooting. WNCC was 10 of 14 from the charity stripe in the first half and finished 22 of 30 for the game.
Harnish said Colorado Northwestern made them play hard and work to get shots, but it was the Cougars’ defense that stood out once again.
“The defense has definitely has gotten better week after week. We have played good defense the last three weeks and I think we play well together defensively while struggling offensively at times,” he said. “Colorado Northwestern makes you play that way. They deny wings and they make it tough to run your offense. It is good to play against a team like that to get us better against that type of pressure.“
WNCC led 34-22 and pushed the lead to 13 points 42-29 after a Peterson 3-pointer followed by 3-point lay-in off an assist from Samantha Sanders. WNCC kept the lead in double digits the rest of the game as they pushed the lead to 20 points on a free through by ChaCha Ofoegbu at 58-38 with 3:44 to play.
The Cougars out-rebounded the Spartans 51-34 and converted on 38 percent of their field goals while holding CNCC to just 28 percent shooting. Defense was the big reason for the win as WNCC forced 25 turnovers and had 13 steals. Aratani and Lisa Durdan led the team with three steals each.
The tournament will continue today with four contests. The Eastern Wyoming College women will face Colorado Northwestern at 1 p.m. followed by the Eastern Wyoming College men taking on the Ft. Collins All-stars at 3 p.m. The Cougar women will then face Oglala Lakota College at 5 p.m. followed by the Cougar men taking on Oglala Lakota at 7 p.m. The Thanksgiving Classic wraps up with four games on Saturday.
NOTES: All four of today’s contests will be videostreamed on the Internet at ihigh.com/wncccougars. Also, Westmoor Elementary is the elementary school of the week and students will get in free all weekend. The Playhouse Skate and Fun Center will also have a jump house available during the 5 and 7 p.m. games for youngsters to jump in.
CNCC
WNCC (7-1) 34 36 – 70
COLORADO NORTHWESTERN
Jaynelle Johnson 10, Jasmine Rasom 4, Maray Filfred 5, Jessica Madsen 4, Jamie Bair 3, Michelle Blanton 5.
WNCC
Samantha Sanders 2, Jasmine Shaffer 3, Leona Garrett 1, Lisa Durden 4, Kyra Peterson 17, ChaCha Ofoegbu 7, Idil Ozbayrak 2, Kelsey Doddridge 4, Jessica Aratani 19, Ajsa Zdovc 11.
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