WNCC women roll over LCCC

                CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The 22^nd-ranked Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team put three in double figures and rolled to an 87-61 win over Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Tuesday night.

                Alejah Douglas led all scorers with 18 points while Lidsey Mahoukou chipped in 12 and Ky Buell had 11.

                The Cougars trailed just once in the contest when LCCC hit the opening 3-pointer of the game. After that, WNCC received buckets by Mahoukou, Ashley Panem, and a 3-pointer by Buell to lead 7-3. The Golden Eagles came back to cut the deficit to one at 9-8 on another trey, but the Cougars went on an 8-0 run to lead 17-8 and led 25-11 after the first 10 minutes of play.

                The second quarter saw WNCC jump out to a 34-15 lead and the by 18, 38-20 on a Mahoukou bucket. WNCC led 45-30 at halftime.

                The third quarter saw WNCC jump out to a 52-33 lead after a bucket by Buell and Panem, and a 3-pointer by Payton Fields. The Cougars went up by 20, 55-35 and led 61-38 after a bucket by Emma Johnson and a free throw my Madison Blaney. WNCC led 67-49 after three quarters.

                The fourth quarter saw the Cougars outscore the Golden Eagles 8-4 to open the period and lead 75-53. WNCC went up my 29 on a Maddy Campbell trey and won 87-61.

                The difference in the game was shooting and rebounding. WNCC shot 44 percent from the field and buried five treys. The Cougars were also 20 of 25 from the charity stripe. LCCC shot 33 percent from the field and buried nine treys. The Golden Eagles were 18 of 26 from the charity stripe.

                WNCC out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 42-36. Fields and Johnson each had five rebounds. Johnson also had three blocks in the contest while Mahoukou had two blocks.

                The Cougars dished out 16 assists, led by Douglas with four and Panem with three.

                WNCC’s defense also registered 21 steals. Fields had five picks, while Douglas and Buell each had three, while Campbell had two.

                Besides the three in double figures, the Cougars also received eight points from Johnson, Fields, and Martrice Brooks, while Isabelle Cook had seven points.

                WNCC, 4-1, will have little time to rest as they will travel to Casper College Wednesday night to face No. 10-ranked Casper College.

WNCC                   25 20 20 20 – 87

LCCC                      11 19 19 12 – 61

WNCC

Alejah Douglas 18, Yara Garcia 2, Bella Sparaco 2, Ky Buell 11, Martrice Brooks 8, Ashley Panem 5, Payton Fields 8, Maddy Campbell 3, Isabelle Cook 7, Madison Blaney 3, Emma Johnson 8, Lidsey Mahoukou 12.

LCCC

Ariadna Bleda Ripoll 5, Anna Terron 12, Lucia Fleta Robles 5, Carla Caire Aguilar 2, Taylor Gollhofer 1, Samantha Hester 11, Kaysen Hobbs 7, Zimena Gutierrez 9, Abigail Garreaud 9.

WNCC men fall in overtime to LCCC

                CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College and Laramie County Community College men’s basketball teams combined for 217 points and 29 3-pointers in a game that saw plenty of hot shooting.

                In the end, the Golden Eagles hung on to down the Cougars 109-108 in overtime Tuesday night in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to earn the win in a thrilling game.

                The contest saw both teams shoot the ball well. WNCC was 43 percent from the field and 44 percent from the 3-point arc. The Cougars buried 15 treys, 12 of which came in the second half and overtime.

                LCCC was 50 percent from the field and 42 percent from behind the arc. The Golden Eagles hit 14 threes, nine of which came in the second half.

                The difference might have been at the free throw line. WNCC was just 50 percent from the line (9 of 18) while LCCC wasn’t much better, shooting 62 percent (13 of 21).

                The first half started out with LCCC grabbing a 10-4 lead before WNCC came back to grab a 13-12 lead on a Tyler Mack bucket. The lead was short-lived with LCCC coming back to grab a 29-19 lead.

                WNCC heated up as they outscored the Golden Eagles 12-2 to tie the game at 31. Both teams exchanged buckets. With under a minute to play, WNCC held a 44-41 lead only to watch LCCC come back to slice the lead to 44-43. Mack closed out the half with a trey that gave the Cougars a 47-43 halftime lead.

                LCCC opened the second half with a 3-pointer followed by a Cougar 14-0 run that saw the Cougars up 61-46. WNCC led 63-50 on a Chase Thompson bucket. LCCC sliced the lead to single digits at 63-55. WNCC went back up by 11, 77-66 on an Issad Solano trey and a Carter Brown bucket. That was the biggest lead WNCC would have as LCC came storming back, taking a 88-86 lead with 3:08 to play.

                WNCC kept fighting, hitting big shots including Mack nailing a trey to give the Cougars an 89-88 lead. Seconds later, Agwa Nywesh hit a trey for a 92-90 lead. LCC came back and took a 95-92 lead with 35 seconds to play. LCCC had a chance to ice the game with 8.6 seconds, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. WNCC called a timeout with 7.6 seconds and then with .2 seconds remaining, Brown hit a triple from the corner to tie the game at 95, sending it into overtime.

                WNCC scored the first two buckets of the extra period with field goals from Them Koang and Thompson. It was short-lived as LCCC came back to take a 107-101 lead. The Cougars didn’t quit as Koang hit a bucket and then Brown hit a trey to slice the lead to 107-106. Nywesh then put the Cougars up 108-107 with 40 seconds to play.

                LCCC came back to go ahead 109-108. WNCC. Once again, LCCC missed free throws with 11.2 seconds to play, setting up a last second shot for the Cougars to win the game. But, as time expired a 3-pointer came up short, giving the Golden Eagles the win.

                WNCC was led by Thompson with a double-double of 30 points and 14 rebounds. Thompson sank two treys.

                Thompson was just one of seven Cougars that finished with double digit scoring. Tyler Johnson had 20 points with two treys followed by Brown and Koang with 13 points. Brown buried three treys and had five assists. Also for the Cougars, Mack had 12 points with four treys, Nywesh had 10 points with two treys and six assists, and Solano had 10 points with two treys.

                WNCC, 2-2, will have little time to relax as they will be back on the road for a contest with Casper College Wednesday night.

WNCC                   47 48 13 – 108

LCCC                      43 52 14 – 109

WNCC

Carter Brown 13, Chase Thompson 30, Tayler Johnson 20, Tyler Mack 12, Agwa Nywesh 10, Issad Solano 10, Them Koang 13.

LCCC

Ghared Boyce 18, Erik Oliver 24, Yuseff Washington 3, Arion Lewis 17, Ashraf Tchadouwa 6, Nolan Causwell 2, Xavier McCord 21, Marko Maletic 14, Anthony Molinar 4.