The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team went on a 24-0 second-quarter run to open up a tight contest for a huge South Conference 98-56 win over Trinidad State College Saturday afternoon at Cougar Palace.
The win moves the Cougars to 15-5 overall and, more importantly, 2-0 in the conference. The Cougars will have a big conference game on Tuesday when they travel to face McCook Community College. McCook is 3-0 in the South Conference and 12-8 overall.
WNCC captured the win with a big team effort. Five players registered double-digit scoring, and nine of the 10 players who played earned a point.
Adelina Urtane had a double-double in the contest with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Helena Kuck and Zozefine Sipolina led the team with 17 points each while Lidia Hernandez had 15 points and Laura Montiel had 12 points.
Urtane said the key in the win was how the team played defensively in the second quarter.
"I say we locked in on defense. When we get confidence in defense, we play good on offense. So, that was the main key for the game," Urtane, the sophomore from Latvia said. "Definitely defense (between the games on Friday and Saturday). We were so locked in on defense tonight (Saturday) and, I personally, didn't see the score in the second, so we were really locked on D."
It was the second quarter that proved the difference. The first quarter was back-and-forth, as the two teams were knotted several times until the Cougars decided to go on an 11-2 run to lead 21-12. WNCC led 24-17 after the first quarter.
The second quarter saw both teams get a bucket to make it 27-19. It was at that juncture of the game that the Cougars went on a 24-0 run that saw Sipolina, Urtane, and Helena Kuck nail 3-pointers for a 51-9 lead. Trinidad stopped the run with 1:11 to play in the half on a bucket by Candela Roy. The Cougars added five points from Sipolina to lead 56-21 at intermission.
Urtane said the run in the second half was all due to the confidence they had in their defensive play and defense is definitely a key ingredient in the Cougar's success.
"We felt it and we felt right. It was that moment when they started missing shots and we still on defense doing the same thing and we kept going," Urtane said. "I feel like when we play good defense, we also play good offense. I think for us, when we are locked in on defense, we are also getting good shots on offense."
The defensive tenacity continued in the second half as WNCC built a 72-25 lead as Kuck buried two triples and Urtane had a big offensive rebound put-back and later an offensive tip-in.
WNCC then subbed all five starters and the next five didn't skip a beat as Carleigh Pszanka buried two free throws and Arianna Myers had a 3-pointer for a 77-30 lead. WNCC led after three periods 82-38.
The fourth quarter saw Trinidad start with a 9-0 run to make it an 82-47 game, but the Cougars stopped that run as Nataly Dunka had an offensive rebound putback and the Cougars rolled to the win.
WNCC shot 42 percent from the field while connecting on 13-of-38 from the charity stripe. WNCC was also 17-of-22 from the free throw line. Trinidad shot 41 percent and buried just 2-of-20 from beyond the arc. The Trojans were also 6-of-9 from the charity stripe.
WNCC controlled the boards, 54-31. Urtane had 10 boards followed by Dunka with six, and Sipolina, Montiel, and Kuck each had five.
Trinidad 17 4 17 18 – 56
WNCC (15-5) 24 32 26 16 – 98
TRINIDAD
Hailey Apachito 6, Keyara Cowell-Earle 4, Violeta Rojas 16, Lani Albert-Neha 17, Candela Roy 10, Rachel Stewart 1, Kambree Montoya 2, Sydney Smith 2.
WNCC
Lidia Hernandez 15, Helena Kuck 17, Laura Montiel 12, Adelina Urtane 14, Nataly Dunka 8, Arianna Myers 3, Asia Mitchell 8, Zozefine Sipolina 17, Carliegh Pszanka 4.