The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team broke open a close contest in winning 65-54 over Lamar Community College on Friday.
Friday's win came on sophomore recognition day and the Cougar women won their 10th straight as they went to 23-5 overall. The win moved the 20th-ranked Cougars to 9-0 in the South Sub-region with one regular season left when WNCC travels to Northeastern Junior College on Saturday.
Laura Montiel, one of the six sophomores that was recognized, said this was a tough contest as they had to play without fellow sophomore Adelina Urtane, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice this week.
"Today was a hard game and the team played really good together," Montiel, who had 15 points and seven steals in the win. "We had extra motivation because it was sophomore night and because our captain Adelina tore her ACL, so we worked to win this game for her. She has been doing a great job during the season and we are going to miss her on the court, so we will give all our energy for her."
For Montiel and the other sophomores, they knew that this was going to be their last regular season home game and the memories they gathered while playing on the court were special. WNCC, however, will be back on the court in mid-March when they host the Region IX tournament March 13-15 after the Cougars won the South sub-region.
"Today was a really special game because these two years at WNCC have been so special in my life," Montiel, who is from Granada, Spain, said. "I have met great people and I'm going to miss playing for the Cougars. But I was happy because we are going to host the Region IX tournament and it's not going to be the last game at home."
How the team played Friday was a learning curve what they need to do since they were playing without their captain on the floor. So, Saturday when they head to NJC, it will be a game where they learned a lot about themselves.
"The main thing for tomorrow (Saturday) is to give all our effort. It is going to be our last conference game and we can and up undefeated (in the conference) and that is a great chance to go to Region IX tournament with good feelings," Montiel said. "We have to do all the little things that matters like winning all the 50/50 balls, dive to the floor, and cheer for our teammates. We don't have to many games left so we have to enjoy every minute inside and outside of the court with our teammates."
Friday's home contest was special since all five sophomores that were suited up started the game. And, after winning the tipoff, Helene Kuck brought the ball up and stopped, paused, and hit a 2-pointer. After that, Lamar went in front 6-2 before WNCC tied the game at 6-6 on two Montiel buckets. The two squads were knotted at 6-6 after the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter was back and forth as the Cougars took a 13-10 lead on a Zozefine Sipolina 3-pointer. The Cougars couldn't buy a bucket and Lamar came back to lead by four, 22-18. Sophomore Nataly Dunka then made back-to-back buckets to lead 23-22. Lamar bounced back to lead 26-23. Dunka got the last bucket of the half when the sophomore from Brazil hit a 3-pointer and the two teams were knotted at 26-26 at intermission.
Montiel said they didn't play well the first half, but the second half was a different story.
"I would say we did a really good job defensively and that is what kept us in the game the first half," she said. "And, in the second half of the game, we moved the ball better and we got more rebounds than in the first half."
The second half was a huge defensive effort after the first three minutes of the third quarter. Montiel got the Cougars on the board first with a bucket and then the Runnin' Lopes went on a 7-0 run to lead 33-28 with 6:50 to play. After that, the Cougars outscored Lamar 19-2 for nearly six minutes as Lidia Hernandez and Kuck nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to put WNCC ahead. After a Lamar bucket, the Cougars went on a 13-0 run that was started with a Montiel 3-pointer and WNCC led 47-35. The Cougars led 49-40 after three quarters.
WNCC kept the defensive intensity on in the fourth quarter, running to a 59-43 lead while holding Lamar to just two field goals for nearly seven minutes. Lamar put together a late rally, with an 11-0 run to cut the lead to 59-54. Sipolina stopped the run with a 3-pointer and moments later, Kuck buried a triple to give WNCC the win.
WNCC was led in scoring by Dunka with 20 points followed by Montiel with 15, and 10 points each from Sipolina and Kuck.
WNCC had 14 steals in the contest behind seven from Montiel and four from Dunka. Lamar out-rebounded the Cougars 48-33. Hernandez led the way on the boards with 11 followed by Dunka with five.
Montiel said she will cherish the remaining games over the next month as what her grandmother told her yesterday.
"This year has been so special so far," Montiel said. "Like my grandmother told me yesterday (Thursday), we deserve to have a nice final finish. We have had so many adversities this year and we fought every time. I trust in this team 100 percent and this coming games are going to be unforgettable."
Lamar 8 18 14 14 – 54
WNCC 8 18 23 16 – 65
LAMAR
Morgan Evans 8, Amaya Williams 14, Natalie Silva 7, Ana Zesati 10, Maleah Charlie 5, Leah Delgarito 8, Addy Offutt 2.
WNCC
Helena Kuck 10, Laura Montiel 15, Carliegh Pszanka 1, Nataly Dunka 20, Lidia Hernandez 9, Zozefine Sipolina 10.