The Cougar men suffered their first loss of the season, falling to a talented Air Force Prep squad 79-77, despite putting five players in double figures.
The Cougar women, on the other hand, put Thursday’s overtime win behind them and ran all over Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa 85-46 to improve to 4-1 on the season.
“We started off pretty slow and we didn’t make a run until six minutes to go in the half when the score was tied. We then opened it up,” assistant coach Jennifer Pedersen said. “We actually got into a running game, which is more our style of play in the second half. Everybody resonded really well and we pushed the ball really well.”
The Cougar women held a 38-24 lead at halftime and then opened up the contest by outscoring Nortern Oklahoma 47-21 in the second half.
“We had a lot of steals as a team and we are a fast-paced team,” Pedersen said. “Last night Air Force Prep really slowed the game down on us, which caused us to get out of our traditional mix. The kids really passed the ball well on the court tonight.”
WNCC registered 18 steals as a team as Bayard’s Amber Kistler led the way with seven steals followed by Storyme Everett with four steals. Kistler also popped in 12 points, while Everett led all scorers with 16 points.
Shaquilah Davis was the only other Cougar to register double-digit scoring with 13 points. Davis was also 4-of-4 from the free throw line, while Kister was 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.
Tawny Drexler had a near double-double, finishing with a team leading 10 rebounds. The sophomore also had nine points. Janae Willis finished the contest with eight rebounds and nine points.
The Cougar also women also clicked from behind the arc, nailing five treys as five different players buried a trey – Kistler, Davis, Everett, Caley Fisher and Tanisha Gilmore.
Unlike the women’s team, the Cougar men were on the opposite side of the scoreboard. WNCC led Air Force Prep 39-37 at halftime only to fall behind by nine points in the second half. WNCC coach Brian Joyce said his did show a lot to come back and take the lead with about 30 seconds to play, only to watch Air Force Prep cash in on a huge 3-pointer to get the win.
“Air Force Prep is a good team. They have one of the most talented teams that I have seen,” WNCC coach Brian Joyce said.
WNCC was 24 of 56 from the field, but only made one of seven shots behind the arc. The Cougar men shot 18 of 27 from the free throw in the contest.
Freshman Tarell Clark paced all Cougars with 17 points followed by Larry Brown with 14, Sedrick McBounds with 13, and Francisco Cruz and Scott Bamforth with 10 points each.
The Cougars, 3-1, will look to get back on track in a 1 p.m. contest today against the Colorado All-stars, a team that Joyce said is very talented. Joyce said the all-star team was leading Miles by about 50 at halftime. WNCC defeated Miles 74-49 on Thursday.
The Cougar women will finish the Prep Tournament with a 4 p.m. contest against Barton County Community College. Pedersen said Barton County is not a bad team.
“Last year Barton was one of the better games we played. They play in the Jayhawk Conference and are used to competitive games each night,” Pedersen said. “We haven’t been able to see them play yet, but they are a strong team. We really need to be on our toes. We really need help from our bench as well.”
Men’s Game
WNCC (3-1) 39 38 – 77
Air Force Prep 37 42 – 79
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Tarell Clark 17, Larry Brown 14, Sedrick McBounds 13, Francisco Cruz 10, Scott Bamforth 10, Daniel Smith 7, Chris Hamblin 4, John Bright 2.
Women’s Game
WNCC (4-1) 38 47 – 85
N. Oklahoma-Tonkawa 24 21 – 45
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Tanisha Gilmore 5, Amber Kistler 12, Lorena Medairos 8, Shaquilah Davis 13, Storyme Everett 16, Janae Willis 9, Tawny Drexler 9, Rachael Ragland 6, Caley Fisher 6, Juliana Bassetta 2.
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