The Cougars sank six first-half 3-pointers, including three from Shaquilah Davis in running to a 32-20 halftime lead. Davis finished the game with 22 points and four 3-pointers, including 13 in the first half.
WNCC coach Dave Harnish said the first half play was key, especially how they shot the ball on the evening.
“We shot the ball early to get up by 18 and then we got to a point where we let them back in the game because we kept shooting threes and stopped penetrating,” he said. “I thought the second half we had better balance to where if we had to go up with a shot, we took it, and if we not we penetrated. I thought the balance of shots was better in the second half.”
WNCC converted on 46 percent from the field, including 40 percent (8 of 20) from the 3-point area. Amber Kistler buried two treys, while Stormye Everett and Lorena Medeiros each had one 3-pointer.
Otero shot 30 percent from the floor, and were out-rebounded by the Cougars 40-34. A big reason for Otero’s poor shooting was the Cougars’ patented defense, which is ranked among the nation’s top 10.
“ We went to a match-up zone and we haven’t played it much this year and I thought it was an excellent job,” Harnish said. “They are a team that really hurt us off of penetration the last time we played (Otero won xx-xx). The match-up zone really helped us take their penetration away and force them to shoot from the outside. I thought it was a solid defensive effort all night.”
The Cougars asserted themselves quickly. Everett hit the first 3-pointer to put WNCC up 6-2. Kistler followed with a long-range shot with 14 minutes left in the opening half. Then, Davis lit up connecting on three 3-pointers to push the Cougars’ lead to 30-13.
The second half belonged to Everett as the freshman scored 11 points, including seven of the team’s first 10 points. After Everett’s strong start, Kistler and Davis connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 48-23 with six minutes gone in the second half.
Otero, on the other hand, had trouble scoring in the second half. The Rattlers’ first field game came on an old-fashioned 3-point play from Alex Dunn with 17 minutes left. WNCC held Otero scoreless for the next five minutes and the Rattlers didn’t score double-digits in the half until five minutes left in the game on a 3-pointer by Megan Cowden.
WNCC had just two players hit the double figure scoring column, led by Davis with 22 and Everett with 17. Medeiros finished the game with nine points followed by Kistler with eight. Kistler also added four assists, while Everett and Davis each had three steals. Tawny Drexler led the team with seven rebounds.
Otero was led by Bailey Wilkins with 11 points, followed by Dunn with eight points.
WNCC, 23-6, will have one more regular season game left as they host Northeastern Junior College Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The Plainswomen earned a 52-50 win over the Cougars last month in Sterling, Colo., on a last second shot.
Saturday will also be sophomore appreciation day as WNCC says goodbye to seven sophomores – Drexler, Medeiros, Davis, SeLina Ysac, Michelle Lighthall, Juliana Bassetto and Caley Fisher.
After Saturday, the Cougars will host the Region IX tournament March 6-10. WNCC earned a first round bye and will play Sunday, March 8 at 5 p.m. against the winner of the Western Wyoming Community College and Northwest (Wyo.) College game. The complete bracket can be located on the Region IX website at regionix.wncc.net.
Otero (20-7) 20- 17 – 37
WNCC (23-6) 32 36 – 68
OTERO JUNIOR COLLEGE
Heather Andersen 1, Rachelle Tialavea 4, Ashley Jelly 2, Bailey Wilkins 11, Alex Dunn 8, Angie Andemucio 1, Kari Ameling 2, Mielinda Perry 2, Megan Cowden 6.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 8, Lorena Medeiros 9, SeLina Ysac 2, Shaquilah Davis 22, Stormye Evereett 17, Janae Willis 3, Tawny Drexler 5, Ashley Burns 2.
Three-pointers: WNCC 8 (Davis 4, Kistler 2, Everett, Medeiros); Otero 4 (Cowden 2, Wilkins, Tialavea).
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