WNCC women hold Casper to 18 2nd half points, pick up 15th win of the season

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team showed just how tough they are defensively Tuesday night in posting a 77-53 win over Casper College at Cougar Palace.

WNCC, who is among the top five best defensive teams in the nation, held Casper to just 18 second half points in overcoming a 35-30 halftime deficit to notch their 15^th win of the season.

The Cougars, in getting the win, got back on the winning trail after falling to Otero Junior College on Saturday 65-51. Tuesday night, it was definitely all defense for the Cougars in the second half and that stern second-half defense resulted in the Cougars out-scoring the Thunderbirds 47-18 to get the win.

Early on, Casper had the Cougars number, holding a 7-point, 30-23 lead in the first half. WNCC sliced the first-half deficit to 32-30 on back-to-back SeLina Ysac buckets, but a 3-point play by Josie Stewart gave Casper the halftime advantage.

It didn’t take the Cougars long to establish themselves In the final 20 minutes. Juliana Bassetto and Stormye Everett started things scoring the first eight points of the game and the Cougars rolled to a 42-35 lead.

Casper didn’t score there first points until the 15 minute mark as Megan Wilson hit two free throws. Casper’s first field goal came with 12:40 left in the game on a Ewa Urbanowska bucket. Casper was within three, 44-41, but that was when the Cougars defense heated up once again, going on a 16-1 run, highlighted by Lorena Medeiros and Eerett with four points each to push the Cougar lead to 60-43.

WNCC had their biggest lead of the contest on a Amber Kistler 3-pointer to make the score 65-40. Kistler had six more points, including taking a full-court pass from Medeiros, which Kistler snagged like an NFL receiver for a layup.

One of the big reasons for the Cougars win Tuesday was shooting, especially in the second half where the Cougars were 51 percent and the T-birds were 20 percent. WNCC out-rebounded Casper 51-40 with Medeiros getting eight boards, and Ysac and Everett collecting six a piece.

WNCC had four players hit the double figure column compared to Casper’s one. Everett led the way with 16 points followed by Shaquilah Davis with 14, Kistler with 12 and Tawny Drexler with 11. Casper was led by Dana Seth with 13 points.

WNCC, 15-4, will next be in action Saturday afternoon when they travel to Northeast (Neb.) Community College for a East Sub-region contest. The winner of the east sub-region, which includes WNCC, Northeast Nebraska and McCook, will host the Region IX tournament in March. Tip-off for the Northeast contest is slated for 1 p.m.

Casper (17-5) 35 18 – 53
WNCC (15-4) 30 47 – 77
CASPER
Emily Elliott 6, Samira Van Grinavan 6, Dana Seth 13, Yianna Nadeau 7, Megan Wilson 7, Kerstin Minshow 3, Josie Stewart 3, Ewa Urbanowska 8.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 12, Lorena Medeiros 4, SeLina Ysac 6, Shaquilah Davis 14, Stormye Everett 18, Janae Willis 2, Tawny Drexler 11, Caley Fisher 4, Juliana Bassetto 6.