Stormye Everett and Amber Kistler had a memorable last game at Cougar Palace Sunday afternoon. The two Western Nebraska Community College sophomores combined for 36 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Cougar women to a huge 66-48 win over No. 22 Northeastern Junior College. The win was the Cougars' fifth straight victory heading into this weekend's Region IX tournament in Sterling, Colo.
"This win is huge and I am so excited," said a happy Everett. "We haven't beat NJC in the last two years that I have been here and we finally beat them by 18 in our house. This shows our potential heading into the regional tournament. This was also my last game here so this win meant a lot. I am happy."
What Everett, Kistler and the rest of the Cougar women can be happy about is the way they beat a much taller NJC team. The Cougars out-rebounded the Plainsmen 56-44 and converted 69 percent (18 of 26) free throws. WNCC shot 31 percent for the game, but it was by far better than Northeastern's 26 percent, including just 15 percent from the 3-point area.
"Out-rebounding them was huge," Everett said. "We had a little slump in rebounding and that was how teams were beating us, and now that we know we can outbound teams it will help especially against teams that are bigger than us at regionals."
For a brief moment during the game, NJC looked as if they were going to run away with the contest. WNCC enjoyed an early 7-2 lead only to watch the Plainswomen go on a 15-4 run to take a 17-7 lead. The Cougars didn't fold as they kept playing their game while receiving some clutch buckets by Everett and big rebounding from Hemingford's Shelby Campbell, the smallest player on the court. Campbell finished the first half with six rebounds to lead the team.
What really brought the Cougars back from the 10-point deficit was not giving up. WHCC finished the half on a 11-2 run. Kistler came up big with four free throws and then nailed an NBA 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cougars a 30-26 halftime lead.
"When we were down, we just kept our composure and didn't let the score bother us," Everett said. "We continued to play our game, made stops on defense and limited our turnovers. And, Kistler's 3-pointer was huge. It kept the momentum up and that is what we needed, momentum."
The Cougars carried Kistler's momentum-turning trey into the second half. Yuki Morimoto started things with four four straight technical foul shots after NJC's head coach Darryl Parker was tossed from the game.
NJC fought back slicing the lead to 39-31 on a Dawn Wattley bucket. Kistler brought the Cougars back as the Bayard graduate grabbed a rebound and drove the length of the court for a lay-up and a 45-33 lead. Kistler followed that with her second 3-pointer of the game and then two free throws to go up 50-37.
The Plainswomen made one last ditch effort to come back as Lynnae Cox drained a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 50-40. WNCC came back to outscore NJC the rest of the way 14-8, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Morimoto and Kistler.
WNCC had three players in double figures. Kistler led the way with 22 points, seven rebounds and 9 of 10 shooting from the free throw line, while Everett had 14 points and nine rebounds. Morimoto finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Hemingford's Campbell finished with nine rebounds and sto steals.
NJC also had three players in double figures led by Maty Diallo with 13 points and eight rebounds. Sabelle Diata had 12 points on 6 of 24 shooting, while Lynnae Cox had 11 points and three 3-pointers.
WNCC, 23-7, will next be in action at the Region IX tournament in Sterling, Colo., where they will face Little Big Horn College on Friday at 3 p.m.
NJC (25-5) 26 22 -- 48
WNCC (23-7) 30 36 -- 66
NORTHEASTERN COLORADO
Dara Kipp 2, Amy Marin 4, Lynnae Cox 11, Dawn Wattley 6, Sabelle Diata 12, Maty Diallo 13.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 22, Stormye Everett 14, Yuki Morimoto 16, Tiffany Moorer 6, Carolina Alves 2, Kelli Culver 2, Khayla Gladney 4.
No comments:
Post a Comment