WNCC women pick up 10th win of the season over McCooki

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team shot 55 percent from the field and had three players in double figures in rolling to an impressive 86-52 win over McCook Community College Saturday at Cougar Palace in the final day of the Colorado/Nebraska Showcase.

The Cougars connected on 7 of 15 3-pointers, three of which came from Bayard graduate Amber Kistler, and blistered the net for 47 first-half points to pick up their 10^th win of the season.

Three Cougars finished in double figures. Yuki Morimoto paced WNCC with 16 points, followed by Stormye Everett with 15 and Kistler with 14.

Everett, who had 11 points in the first half, said they came ready to play against a McCook team that topped Lamar and Otero earlier in the tournament.

“I think we played really well,” Everett said. “We did a good job executing our offense and getting the rebounds on defense, and rebounding was our major struggles this year.”

It didn’t take WNCC long to start showcasing an offensive scheme that utilized both the inside and outside game. Thais Pinto connected on two pin-point shots from inside. Then, the Cougars defense allowed the Cougars to get some easy buckets off of steals as Everett recorded back-to-back steals for points and a 14-3 lead.

Moments later, Kistler connected on WNCC’s first of seven 3-pointers, nailing a trey with 11 minutes to play to put the Cougars up 22-10. WNCC didn’t slow up after that as Kistler had seven straight points as she nailed another 3-pointer and then drove the lane for another bucket for a 31-15 lead.

Everett followed with a 3-pointer and then Morimoto drilled a 3-pointer to put the Cougars up 43-21 before settling for a 47-27 halftime lead.

Everett said the offense was clicking in the first half.

“We were hitting a lot more of our outside shots that we weren’t hitting in previous games,” she said. “Our posts were also working harder to get open and it was easier to get the ball to them.”

While the Cougars were hitting for 55 percent of their shots in the first half, they were even more deadly in the second half, especially beyond the arc. WNCC shot 54 percent from the field in the second 20 minutes, and were 60 percent from behind the 3-point arc as Kistler nailed her third trey of the game to put the Cougars up 69-36.

Michelle Glaze got into the 3-point accuracy as she canned a long-range shot to make the score 76-40. Then, Mullen graduate Tayler Puttergill showcased her long-range ability with a 3-pointer with two minutes left in the contest.

Everett said that ever since the team lost to Seward County Community College last week, they learned what it takes to win. They have playing with that renewed jubilance on offense and defense. It showed as WNCC had 37 defensive stops in the game.

“That game inspired us a lot because we played hard against Seward in that we hustled in the second half [of that loss],” she said. “That game showed us that we are capable of getting rebounds and running plays that we need to do to win. We are trying to play every game like that.”

WNCC also received plenty of balance off the bench. Khayla Gladney finished with eight points, while Glaze had seven points, and tiffany Moorer and Thais Pinto had six points each. Everett led the team with five rebounds, while Kistler and Moorer each had four boards.

McCook shot just 25 percent from the game and was 6 of 25 from the 3-point arc. Britney Bunker and Elle Hiester led the Indians with 10 points each.

In the early game, Otero Junior College outscored lamar 46-22 in the second half to register a 77-55 win. Kari Ameling finished with a double-double in the win, finishing with 26 points and 12 rebounds.

WNCC will next be in action next week when they host the Lady Cougar Holiday Classic Thursday through Saturday. The Cougars will entertain Air Force Prep, Garden City Community College and Colby Community College.

Lamar 33 22 – 55

Otero 31 46 – 77

LAMAR

Morgan Smith 19, Kanisha Cooks 7, Brittany Rayford 8, Ashley Torres 3, Krystina George 7, Brianna Hopkins 1, Nicole Midder 3, Jackie Eberhard 4, Emily Williams 3.

OTERO

Angie Andenucio 3, Desiree Marnufo 3, Chelsea Rotondo 9, Tracy Fosterling14, Ashley Jelly 4, Myecha Taylor 4, Kaitlyn Lowen 2, Christian Anderson 2, Kari Ameling 26, Melinda Perry 6, Upuia Fui 2.

McCook 27 25 – 52

WNCC (10-2) 47 39 – 86

MCCOOK

Sierra Guy 7, Ellie Hiester 10, Britney Bunker 10, Emmalee Fladland 2, Jacqueline Lovato 2, Donell Betts 7, Skylar Johnson 4, Julia Hale 4, Morgan Spencer 3, lauren Woods 1.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Amber Kistler 14, Stormye Everett 15, Shelby Campbell 2, Yuki Morimoto 16, Tiffany Moorer 6, Tynetta Turner 1, Carolina Alves 2, Tayler Puttergill 5, Michelle Glaze 7, Thais Pinto 6, Kelli Culver 4, Khayla Gladney 8.