Cougar women fall in double overtime

Submitted by JEREMY WOZNICK, Star-Herald Sports Reporter

LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team couldn’t make a seven-point, overtime lead stand up in dropping an 82-77 double-overtime setback to the Colorado Christian Junior Varsity on Tuesday night in Lakewood, Colo.

WNCC, whose roster is currently depleted by a number of injuries, dropped to 17-6 on the season with the loss.

“We basically got out-rebounded all night and didn’t shoot the ball very well again. Those have been our struggles all year long,” WNCC coach Dave Harnish said. “We were fortunate to get into overtime, and then we took a seven-point lead in the first overtime. But we made a couple costly mistakes and couldn’t hold the lead. In the second overtime we got down by 10 and just could never recover. It was just a tough night.”

The contest was a stark contrast to the first meeting between the teams back on Nov. 17. In that game, WNCC recorded a 77-43 win at Cougar Palace in Scottsbluff.

“It’s always tough when you go on the road,” Harnish said. “We have a lot of people out and we’re really down in numbers right now. That’s no excuse though. We’re basically just trying to compete night in and night out the best we can.”

The loss came just a few days after WNCC gave No. 6 Casper College all it could handle before falling to the Region IX-leading Thunderbirds by just five points.

WNCC will play another non-conference opponent on the road Saturday when the Cougars travel to Kyle, S.D., to face Oglala Lakota College. The Cougars will then jump back into sub-region play next week with important games at Northeastern Junior College on Tuesday and at Lamar Community College on Feb. 11.

“We just have to get our heads up and compete,” Harnish said. “We have some big Region IX games coming up here next week. We have to get better.”