The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team used a strong first half in collecting its 11th win of the season with an 85-66 win over Air Force Prep in the first day of the Lady Cougar Holiday Classic at Cougar Palace. The Cougars, in the win, received a balanced scoring output in shooting 47 percent from the field. Stormye Everett led all scorers with 24 points followed by Yuki Morimoto with 18 and Amber Kistler with 11 points.
WNCC, who are ranked No. 18 in the NJCAA polls, will look to add another win Friday in the second day of the Holiday Classic. The Cougars will face Garden City Community College at 7 p.m. The first game of the night will have Colby Community College facing Air Force Prep at 5 p.m.
As much as the offense sparkled Thursday night, the defense struggled in the second half allowing Air Force Prep 39 points. WNCC held a 44-27 lead at intermission and completely dominated play in the opening half.
“There is no question that the Prep school is a very solid team and they have got a lot better than the last time we played them. In the first half we did play very solid,” WNCC coach Dave Harnish said. “Defensively we did a good job taking the penetration away and offensively we made some shots and executed well.
“It really wasn’t the offense tonight in scoring 85 points; it was defensively where we didn’t have that same intensity the second half. We allowed too many penetrations and too many buckets. The transition was terrible the second half after we got up by 23 or 24 points. I am disappointed that we didn’t maintain and gradually build the lead up. It is something that we have had a problem with. I thought we did a better job last weekend and tonight we didn’t do a very good job with the same intensity that we had the first half.”
WNCC definitely was on its game in the first half, roaring to an 8-0 lead behind 3-points by Everett and Morimoto. The Cougars built the lead to double digits, 17-7 on back-to-back buckets by Tiffany Moorer.
The Cougars kept looking sharp, pushing the lead to 15 points with five minutes to play, 38-23 on buckets by Kistler, Everett, Morimoto and Moorer. WNCC led 44-27 at intermission.
WNCC played well early on in the second half as Thais Pinto scored five of the first nine points for a 53-35 lead. The Cougars kept executing offensively as Kistler nailed a 3-pointer to put the Cougars up 62-39.
That was when the defense changed gears and the Prep offense started to make a comeback. The Huskies went on a 16-6 run, cutting the lead to 68-56. Air Force Prep, however, never could get the lead to single digits as Kister nailed a clutch bucket and then Everett and Morimoto each had 3-pointers to seal the win.
The Cougars shot 47 percent for the game compared to 35 percent for Prep. WNCC also out-rebounded Air Force 55-37 as Everett had nine boards, followed by Morimoto with seven and Pinto with six.
Besides the three Cougars in double figures, the Cougars received a strong game from Pinto with nine points followed by Moorer with eight and Carolina Alves with five.
Air Force Prep was led by Caitlin Boal with 23 points followed by Cherae Medina with 17 and Testa Davis with 14.
WNCC, 11-2, will need to play tougher Friday against Garden City Community College. The Cougars defeated GCCC 70-67 two weeks ago.
“It is important for us to worry about not who we play, but to take care of what we are doing,” Harnish said. “I thought last week we did a good job of playing for 40 minutes. Tonight we didn’t do that and we are playing a very good Garden City team tomorrow [Friday] and if we don’t play for 40 minutes we are going to struggle.”
Air Force Prep 27 39 – 66
WNCC (11-2) 44 41 – 85
AIR FORCE PREP
Cherae Medina 17, Bryanna Mueller 2, Testa Davis 14, Alannah Staver 2, Elizabeth Hicks 2, Harriet Lakind 6, Caitlin Boal 23.
WNCC
Amber Kistler 11, Stormye Everett 24, Shelby Campbell 4, Yuki Morimoto 18, Ariane Brown 2, Tiffany Moorer 8, Carolina ALves 5, Kelli Culver 2, Thais Pinto 9, Khayla Gladney 2.
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