The Cougar women received a 16-point performance from freshman Jenna Colwell in posting a come-from-behind win over the Hawks 70-60. It was the Cougars 18th win of the season and makes them 2-0 in sub-region play.
The Cougar men fell to 1-1 in sub-region play falling to the Hawks 70-60, The Cougar men led early, at 6-4, and then never led again, falling to 12-9 on the season.
WNCC assistant coach Jennifer Pedersen said the women played one of their best first halves and then needed to come back from a 5-point second half deficit to collect the win on the road.
“We played a good first half and then we came out in the second half and didn’t play that well,” she said. “We got down by five in the second half and then we went on a big run. That was when we decided to play a little bit more.”
Pedersen said it was a close game throughout. The Cougars led 32-22 at halftime and wa minute and a half to play, it was only four-point contest. It was then that the Cougars opened up the game with free throw shooting.
Both teams did shoot well from the charity stripe. The Cougars were 73 percent from the line, while the Hawks were 81 percent. The difference was shooting from the field, where the Cougars shot 49 percent compared to 34 percent for the Hawks.
Colwell was one of four Cougars to finish with double-digit scoring. Alison Cheney collected 14 points, followed by Chelsea Lyles and Emma Beddome with 10 points each.
Colwell and Cheney each shot 70 percent from the field. SeLina Ysac and Tawny Drexler led the team on the boards pulling down seven and eight rebounds respectively. Beddome also recorded six boards.
While the women remained perfect in sub-region play, the Cougar men weren’t that fortunate. Brian Joyce said free-throw shooting was a factor. WNCC made 5 of 9 free throws, while Northeast was 20 of 30. WNCC also had 23 fouls called on them compared to seven for the Hawks.
“They [Northeast] shot 39 percent from the field and the big thing in the first half is they scored 12 points off of our turnovers. So, they weren’t particularily shooting well, they were just getting lay-ups off of our turnovers.”
WNCC stayed with the Hawks early, holding a 6-4 lead early. Northeast then opened several 8-point leads. Each time, though, the Cougars would bounce back slicing the lead to one point, 31-30 on a Deividas Busma with 2:21 to play in the half. Northeast then scored the final points of the half to lead 35-30 at intermission.
The Cougars stayed within range of the Hawks in the second half, cutting the lead to three points, 53-50, on a Jamie Eisinger bucket. That was as close as the Cougars got before Northeast outscored WNCC 17-10 the rest of the way.
Joyce said his team did play well in some aspects.
“I thought in the first half we came out in the first half and controlled the tempo, which we have struggled with recently,” Joyce said. “I thought our guards did a good job of picking it and controlling the tempo early.”
WNCC’s Kelvin Franklin paced the Cougars with 23 points. Busma also collected a double-double with 13 points and 20 rebounds.
WNCC will return to action Wednesday when they host its Highway 26 rivals. The women’s game tips off at 5:30 p.m. followed by the men.
WNCC (12-9) 30 30 – 60
Northeast (12-7) 35 35 – 70
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Kelvin Franklin 23, Jamie Eisinger 4, Daniel Smith 4, Deividas Busma 13, Chris Hamblin 4, Oscar Cartwright 6, Lloyd Hickinson 6.
Women’s Game
WNCC (18-4) 32 38 – 70
Northeast (16-5) 22 38 – 60
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Emma Beddome 10, Alison Cheney 14, Tawny Drexler 2, Jenna Colwell 16, Chelsea Lyles 10, Cheri Palmer 8, SeLina Ysac 4, Shaquilah Davis 1, Carly Glisan 5.
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