Abi Lujan finishes with double-double, Cougar women top NJC

                Abi Lujan finished with a double-double and the Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team connected on 24 of 36 free throws to take down Northeastern Junior College 80-68 in south sub-region play Tuesday night at Cougar Palace.

                WNCC and NJC combined for 52 fouls and 66 free throws in the game. The difference in the contest was rebounding, where the Cougars controlled the boards, out-rebounding the Plainswomen 50-36.

                Lujan was the big force on the glass, pulling down a team-leading 11 rebounds. The freshman from Brighton, Colo., also put down 16 points including going 8 of 9 from the free throw line.

                “It was pretty tough and they were constantly battling and they didn’t quit any minute of the game. It was a really huge win for us to beat them at home since we have to play them again at their house. Every game counts from here on out.”

                The rebounding was extremely nice to see as the Cougars have been getting out-rebounded in their previous games. Tuesday night, the Cougars controlled the boards. Kaylee Biddell also pulled down double-figure boards with 10, and Stevens and Lili Havili each had five boards.

                “It was huge to make sure they didn’t get any second-chance opportunities,” Lujan said. “We had to stop to one shot and one shot only.”

                The Cougars also got balanced scoring on the night. WNCC put four players in double figures. Besides Lujan’s 16, Liz Dogan and Laurin Rivera each had 11 and Ashley Stevens had 10. Stevens’ 10 points came all in the second half as the Cougars leading scorer was held scoreless until with 8:14 to play.

                Lujan said that a lot of people stepped up to get the sub-region win and the Cougar’s 15^th win of the season.

                “Having a lot of people score was huge,” she said. “Ashley is a big factor of our team and other people stepped up. They knew they had to in order for us to get the win.”

                The first half was a dog fight as both teams went back and forth like two prize fighters. WNCC jumped out to a 29-23 lead behind back-to-back buckets by Dogan only to watch NJC came clawing back to cut the deficit to a single point, 29-28.

                WNCC went up 38-32 on four free throws by Lujan and led 41-35 at halftime on an old-fashioned play by Lujan.

                The second half saw the Cougars bounce out to a 48-37 lead behind five points from Lujan. NJC went on a mini run to cut the deficit to three, 48-45 and later 52-50. WNCC responded with a flurry, going on an 18-2 run to grab a 70-52 lead behind six points from Stevens and a reverse lay-up by Shalisa Moffit.

                The win was huge to keep the Cougars on pace in winning the sub-region and the No. 1 seed in the regional tournament. WNCC trek doesn’t get any easier as the Cougars travel to Lamar Community College on Saturday. Lamar is 2-0 in the sub-region and are averaging 90 points a game.

                “On Saturday we have to play really good defense and make sure we get every single board,” Lujan said. “We just need to bring our A game.”

NE Colorado       35 33 – 68

WNCC (15-3)      41 39 – 80

NORTHEASTERN JUNIOR COLLEGE
Jordan Bishop 8, Brooke Blair 12, Meg Pritchard 12, Jau’rae Peevy 2, Charmayne Jordan 2, Arianne Sheka 15, Leah Cheney 8, Alex Zehneder 9.

WNCC

Allyson Vasquez 6, Laurin Rivera 11, Shalisa Moffit 4, Lyndie Puckett 2, Abi Lujan 16, Angela Vigil 9, Liz Dogan 11, Ashley Stevens 10, Kaylee Biddel 5, Lile Havili 6.