WNCC women win south sub-region with win over Trinidad, will host regionals March 3

               TRINIDAD, Colo. -- The No. 23 ranked Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team captured the South Sub-Region championship after dropping Trinidad State Junior College 72-38 Saturday afternoon in Trinidad, Colo.

               The Cougars moved to a perfect 10-0 in sub-region play with just two sub-region contests left. More importantly, by winning the sub-region, WNCC will now host the women's Region IX tournament that begins March 3. The win was also the Cougars 14th straight win since having to forfeit the first 13 games of the season.

               Mikayla Brower, who led the team with 16 points, said they played well in claiming the sub-region championship.

               "We knew we had to win today in order to host the tournament," she said. "We started out slow but then we started rolling and we knew we had it."

               Brower said they don't want to rest on just this goal, they still have the goal of finishing the sub-region unbeaten.

               "Coach Harnish said he has never had a team unbeaten so that would be a good goal to have," she said.

               WNCC has three regular season games left as they hit the road for two sub-region contests on Tuesday against McCook and then Thursday at Eastern Wyoming. The Cougars can go 12-0 in the sub-region with two wins. The Cougars will then wrap up the regular season on Feb. 27 when they host Northwest Kansas Technical College.

               Saturday, however, the Cougars played their usual strong defensive game. WNCC started the contest slow, leading just 11-6 but heated up to lead 30-16 at intermission. The Cougars then outscored the Trojans 42-22 for their 14th win of the season.

               Brower said they solved the zone defense of the Trojans by penetrating. Still, the Cougars buried eight 3-pointers on the night. Brower led the team from beyond the arc, nailing 3 of 4 treys.. Shalisa Moffit also contributed two 3-pointers on the day.

               The Cougars shot just 36 percent from the field in the first half, but heated up in the second half, burying 48 percent of their shots.

               WNCC had three players finish in double figures. After Brower's 16 points, Moffit and Gritt Ryder each had 12 points. Ryder also led the team with five steals. Laurin Rivera paced the team with six assists, while Jessica Aratani pulled down eight rebounds.

WNCC                  30 42 -- 72

Trinidad               16 22 -- 38

WNCC

Mikayla Brower 16, Kelsey Doddridge 3, Gritt Ryder 12, Ashley Stevens 2, Jessica Aratani 7, Laurin Rivera 5, Shalisa Moffit 12, Katie Kerkhoff 4, Maurissa Ortega 4, Simone Evans 3, Michelle BRassard 4.