WNCC women defeat Casper by holding the T-birds to 36 points, Cougar men fall 77-68 after holding 10-point first-half lead

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team continues to play well defensively, and Tuesday night they just that holding Casper to just 36 points in posting a 57-36 win on the road.

The men, however, couldn’t hold on to a 10-point first half lead in falling to the T-bird men 77-68. It was the men’s fifth loss in the last six games.

The women, on the other hand, have held its opponents to under 40 points in three of the last four games, and even then, the other game was a 77-44 win over McCook Community College. Tuesday’s game ties the lowest offensive output by a Casper team against WNCC when the Cougars held Casper to 36 points in the 2005 regional tourney championship game.

Assistant coach Jennifer Pedersen said this is the best team has played all year.

“Tonight’s game was the best that we have played all year,” she said. “We were down three starters with Alison [Cheney] home sick, Chelsea [Lyles] home for a family emergency and Tawny [Drexler] going down early in the first half with an injury. Defensively, we played a stellar game and we got good play from a lot of different people.”

Pedersen said what makes this win huge is the fact they rarely win at Casper, including falling int he Region IX championship game last year.

“We have only won three games in the last 20 games at Casper, so this win is a good accomplishment,” she said. “They are playing right like the way we want them to.”

Tuesday’s game was a total Cougar domination as they led from start to finish and used a good combination of inside and outside shooting in posting the win.

The Cougars placed just two players in double figures, led by Dana Iverson with 15 points including three 3-pointers. Also collecting double digits was Jenna Colwell with 11 points.

WNCC out-rebounded Casper by 20, 42-22. Iverson paced the team with nine rebounds followed by Colwell with eight and Shaquilah Davis with six.

WNCC ran out to an 18-9 lead on a Iverson trey and then widened the lead to 23-12 with just over three minutes to play on another Iverson 3-pointer. WNCC led 25-18 at halftime.

The Cougars continued playing well as Iverson canned her third 3-pointer on the night to open the second quarter. WNCC then practically salted away the win when Carly Glisan nailed a long-range 3-pointer with time running down on the shot clock for a 42-29 lead.

WNCC’s defensive pressure limited Casper to just 29 percent shooting.

While the Cougar women were dominating, the Cougar men had a much tougher contest against the T-bird men. WNCC held a 10-point lead for much of the first half, including a 38-28 lead late on a Daniel Smith bucket. Casper, though, came storming back slicing the halftime lead to 38-35.

WNCC coach Brian Joyce said his team played well for most of the first half, despite being short-handed.

“We played really well for the first 16 minutes of the game,” he said. “Then, we started to do things individually and got away from playing as a team.”

The second half was a blood bath with the teams trading leads left and right. WNCC led late, 60-57 on a Lloyd Hickinson bucket, but Casper came storming back going on a 20-8 run to claim the win.

Still, Joyce said they had plenty of opportunities to win the game.

“With four minutes to play we still were in the game and we came done and made some mistakes,” he said. “We should have played better and we should have won.”

The difference in the game was shooting. Casper’s Jeremiah Wilson finished the night with 26 points, including going 6-of-7 from the 3-point line. The T-birds finished the game nailing 11-of-17 3-pointers for the game (64 percent), while the Cougars were a dismal 7-of-26 or 26 percent.

The Cougars had four players in double figures. Oscar Cartwright and Kelvin Franklin paced the team with 17 points each. Daniel Smith also chipped in 14 points followed by Deividas Busma with 10 points.

Both Cougar teams will be back in action Saturday afternoon when they host Northeast (Neb.) Community College in sub-region action. The women’s game tips off at 1 p.m. followed by the men’s game at 3 p.m.

Women’s Game
Casper 18 18 – 36
WNCC 25 32 – 57
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Dana Iverson 15, Emma Beddome 2, SeLina Ysac 5, Jenna Colwell 11, Tawny Drexler 4, Michelle Lighthall 3, Carly Glisan 9, Shaquilah Davis 6, Eli Cosme-Gonzalez 2.

Men’s Game
Casper 35 42 – 77
WNCC 38 30 – 68
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Daniel Smith 14, Oscar Cartwright 17, Kelvin Franklin 17, Lloyd Hickinson 8, Deividas Busma 10, Terrell Price 2.