The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball
team’s three sophomores Ashley Stevens, Laurin Rivera, and Shalisa Moffit
combined for 48 points and the Cougar women rolled to an easy 98-71 win over
Lamar Community College in the team’s last home regular season game.
It
was the Cougars’ 25th win of the season and their eighth straight
victory. WNCC has one regular season game left, today against Northeastern
Junior College in Sterling, Colo.
Friday’s
win, however, was huge for a team that seems to be peaking at the right time.
Stevens, who led WNCC with 19 points, said their defensive intensity and
ability to break a full-court press was huge against a team that was averaging
90 points a game. The Cougars held Lamar to just 27 first-half points.
“We
had to really focus on breaking their press of how chaotic it is during a game,”
Stevens said. “This was a good win. I think we are playing where we need to be.”
What
really set the tone of the game, however, was the Cougars ability to break that
full-court press with sometimes ease with long outlet passes that resulted in
many easy buckets.
“The
big key in this win was breaking their press, and to do that it was just
looking up the floor,” Stevens said. “That was the best way to break their
press. We had to avoid their trapping and the weak side was always open.”
Stevens
said this game was one that they wanted after how they played down at Lamar.
“We
rebounded really well and our guards pushed the ball up the floor like they
needed to,” she said. “The guards just saw the floor and the open players.”
The
Cougars got plenty of fire power from everyone on the team. The three
sophomores finished off their home career with impressive numbers with Stevens
had 19 points, Rivera with 16 points and four assists, and Moffit with 13
points, three steals and two blocked shots. Stevens said this being their last
home game wasn’t a factor, really.
“The
way us sophomores played was a good way to go out,” the Bridgeport native said.
“[With us scoring nearly 50 points] I don’t think it was any motivation on us
for that to happen. We are just glad that game ended with us top.”
Abi
Lujan also had a big game, finishing with 15 points and eight rebounds, while
Angela Vigil collected 10 points. The team also got big rebounding games from
Allyson Vasquez with eight rebounds, Kaylee Biddell with seven boards, and Lile
Havili with six.
It
was also a win that the Cougars opened up midway through the first half. The
two teams were slugging it out as WNCC held a slim 15-10 lead 1ith 13:43 to
play. That was when the Cougars defensive intensity stepped up as they went on
a 10-0 run to lead 25-10. The run was highlighted by five Vigil points.
After
Lamar scored five straight to get back to within 10, WNCC went on another 10-0
run behind the play of Lujan, Vasquez and Lyndie Puckett. WNCC cruised to a
45-27 halftime lead.
Lamar
opened the second half with a 3-pointer by Celina Quayle, but WNCC went on
another 10-0 run to lead 55-30 and later pushed the lead to 30 points at 66-36
behind seven straight points from Stevens. WNCC never looked back after that.
Lamar 27
44 – 71
WNCC 45
53 – 98
LAMAR
Janey Truitt 5, Gabriela Jimenez 9, Ariel Rosa 4, Allison
Gordon 7, Alicia Gallagher 5, Kimi Roth 4, Marquee Strong 2, Ellie Stevens 20,
Celina Quayle 7, Khadijah Vigil 8.
WNCC
Allyson Vasquez 5, Laurin Rivera 16, Shalisa Moffit 13,
Lyndie Puckett 1, Abi Lujan 15, Angela Vigil 10, Liz Dogan 7, Ashley Stevens
19, Kaylee Biddell 6, Lile Havili 3, Olivia Vogel 3.
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