[12-8-2012] Gritt
Ryder poured in 26 points and the 6th-ranked Western Nebraska
Community College basketball team remained unbeaten with a 92-44 win over Air
Force Prep in the final day of the Lady Cougar Holiday Classic Saturday
afternoon at Cougar Palace.
The
90-point explosion was also the Cougars fifth straight game scoring 90 or more
points. In Saturday’s win the Cougars placed four players in double figures and
shot 47 percent from the field.
Behind
Ryder’s 26 points was Shalisa Moffit with 16 points, Laurin Rivera with 14
points, and Ashley Stevens with 10 points.
Brower,
who scored just two points but put down a team-leading six rebounds, said it is
nice running the offense from her point guard position with an offense like
they have.
“Our
offense is great because depending on what day, we can do many things.
Depending on what the defense does, we can change our offense.
Defensively,
the Cougars put together another stellar offense. The Cougars have held their
opponents to under 50 points for the 13th time in 14 games played.
Brower said they pride themselves on their defense.
“Playing
tight defense is what we like,” she said. “We like to play up-in-your-face
defense and give it all you got when in the game. When we are in there, we just
play as hard as we can on defense. That will then transfer to what we do on
offense.”
Overall,
Brower said this team plays hard on both offense and defense and a key for the
Cougars in not only Saturday’s win but their other 13 wins is playing as a
team.
“It
feels good to be 14-0 but we still have to stay focused and not let that get to
our heads,” said.
They
definitely played a solid game once again as nine players finished in the
scoring column and the bench scored 38 points. The Cougars also had 26 points
in the paint. WNCC also dished out 16 assists, led by Moffit and Rivera with
four each and those assists led the team to connect on eight 3-pointers.
Four
of the team’s eight 3-pointers came from Ryder, who was 4 of 6 from beyond the
arc. Rivera pitched in three treys, while Maurissa Ortega had the other bomb.
The
Cougars started early once again, running out to a 12-0 lead and pushed it to
28-3 on a Ashley Stevens old-fashioned three-point play. WNCC continued paying
strong in racing to a 44-16 halftime lead.
The
second half was all WNCC. The Cougars went up 55-20 after back-to-back
3-pointers by Ryder. Then, leading 66-31, the Cougars went on a 11-0 run that
included Ortega’s trey for a 77-31 lead and they cruised to the 92-44 win.
Brower
said this team has grown leaps and bounds from the beginning of the year.
“I
would say this team has improved a lot and I would say I have. Since the first
day of practice I feel more comfortable.
The
Torrington High graduate added that the college game is so much faster than the
high school game.
“This
is a lot faster than my high school but I feel like we all are doing good and
we are just working hard,” she said. “
WNCC
will wrap up the first semester on Tuesday when they travel to Longmont, Colo.,
to face the Colorado Christian University junior varsity before taking a
three-week break for Christmas. WNCC will then return to action Jan. 7 when
they face Northwest Kansas Technical College at Goodland, Kan.
Brower
said they have to play well to finish off the first semester unbeaten.
“We
just need to keep focused and play like we are right now,” Brower said. “We
have to keep on this roll. Like Coach Harnish always says, remember where we
came from, how we got here through hard work and everything, so we just have to
keep that up.”
Air Force Prep 16
38 – 44
WNCC (14-0) 44
48 – 92
AIR FORCE PREP
Myah Jackson 5, Taylor Ashley Shaw 7, Callie Brown 2, Mo
Hall 11, Yasmine Ebanks 6, Angela Goodman 2, Dee Mullins 8, Ashley Lundun 3.
WNCC
Mikayla Brower 2, Laurin Rivera 14, Kelsey Doddridge 1,
Gritt Ryder 26, Shalisa Moffit 16, Katie Kerkhoff 3, Simone Evans 2, Ashley
Stevens 10, Jessica Aratani 9.
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