CASPER, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team played as hard as they could and had the win in their hands, but fell on a last-second 3-pointer to Casper College 74-71 to wrap up the Region 9 Crossover Classic on Saturday evening.
                The Cougars, 13-5, finished the Crossover Classic with a 1-2 record and will now be off until January 24 and 25 when they host Otero and Trinidad State in South Conference contests. The winner of the South conference hosts the Region IX tournament in March.
                As for Saturday’s contest, it was a game where the Cougars had the home-standing T-Birds on the ropes for the majority of the contest. WNCC couldn’t of asked for a better first quarter as they never trailed in the opening 10 minutes as Laura Montiel hit the first bucket of the contest, a 3-pointer, and went on to lead by seven, 17-10 on a Zozefine Sipolina bucket.
                Sipolina later hit back-to-back treys for a 23-14 lead and Nataly Dunka buried a 3-pointer to end the first quarter for a 26-16 lead for the Cougars.
                The second quarter was a little rough at the beginning. WNCC held a 31-23 lead when Casper went on a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the contest with five minutes left in the quarter. WNCC responded in the final three minutes, holding Casper scoreless while going on a 7-0 run to end the half on a Helena Kuck bucket at the buzzer for a 42-35 lead.
                The third quarter was lukewarm as both teams scored 14 points. WNCC never trailed in the third quarter as they built their largest lead of the game at 11 points, 51-40, on two Dunka free throws. After that, the T-Birds outscored WNCC 9-5 as WNCC led 56-49 after 30 minutes of play.
                The fourth quarter was the deciding quarter as Casper came out and buried two 3-pointers to take their second lead of the game at 61-58. Casper led 69-65 with just under three minutes to play. WNCC tied the game at 69-69 with 130 to play on back-to-back buckets by Montiel and Dunka.
                Casper went up 71-69 with under a minute to play. The Cougars knotted the game at 71 on a Lidia Hernandez bucket with 26 seconds to play and it seemed as overtime was in the books. WNCC played tough defense and with 3.6 seconds on the clock, Casper’s Luna Ueda buried a defended 3-pointer from a couple steps behind the 3-point line to put the T-Birds up 74-71 with 3.6 seconds to play. WNCC’s last second tying trey hit the rim, but wouldn’t go down.
                WNCC shot 46 percent for the game with six 3-pointers. The Cougars were also 15-of-22 from the charity stripe. Casper shot 41 percent from the field with eight 3-pointers. Casper was 8-of-11 from the free throw line.
                WNCC had three in double figures, led by Dunka with 19 points followed by Sipolina with 16 and Montiel with 13.
 
WNCC (13-5)                 26 16 14 15 – 71
Casper (13-5)                16 19 14 25 – 74
WNCC
Lidia Hernandez 7, Helena Kuck 6, Laura Montiel 13, Adelina Urtane 8, Nataly Dunka 19, Asia Mitchell 2, Zozefina Sipolina 16.
CASPER
Andi Schissler 18, Saioa San Francisco 2, Adama Badjie Coly 18, Luna Ueda 19, Marina Concepcion 2, Csenge Szomszed 15.
 
WNCC men fall to Gillette
 
                GILLETTE, Wyo. – Reece Randolph and Mathiang Maker combined for 43 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Western Nebraska Community College Cougar men dropped an 112-83 contest to Gillette College Saturday evening in Gillette, Wyoming.
                WNCC, 5-11, will have two weeks off before they open South Conference play the weekend of January 24 and 25 at home against Otero and Trinidad State.
                Saturday’s contest was one where the Cougars battled Gillette College in the first half despite having several players out because of illness or injury.
                The Cougars and Gillette were tied at 16-16 with 13:30 to play in the opening half on two Noah Jones free throws. WNCC continued playing well as they led 27-24 on an Isaiah St. Preux bucket.
                After that, Gillette went on a 9-0 run to take a 33-27 lead. WNCC battled back to make it a 4-point contest, 41-37, on two Kellon Harris free throws. The Pronghorns put together a 9-0 run to lead 50-37 and led 55-45 after hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
                The second half saw the two teams trade buckets for the first four minutes until Gillette hit three straight 3-pointers for a 72-55 lead. The Cougars battled back, slicing the deficit to just 11 points, 80-69, on a Dorin Nguema bucket.
                Things changed after that as Gillette went on a 12-0 run to lead 92-69 before a Maker free throw stopped the run. That was, momentarily, as Gillette went back on a 13-0 run to lead 105-70 to claim the 112-83 win.
                The two teams shot about the same. WNCC was 42 percent from the field and 8-of-24 from beyond the arc while burying 21-of-26 free throws. Gillette shot 53 percent while making 10-of-31 from beyond the arc. Gillette was 22-of-26 from the free throw line.
                Gillette had six players in double figures led by Caleb Hollenbeck with 23 points and four 3-pointers.
                WNCC was led by Maker with 23 points with eight rebounds. Randolph tallied 20 points with four 3-pointers. Also hitting double digits was Harris with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Noah Jones had 10 points and two late 3-pointers.        
 
WNCC (5-11)                 45 38 – 83
Gillette (17-1)                55 57 – 112
WNCC
Reece Randolph 20, Kellon Harris 14, Isaiah St. Preux 9, Mathiang Maker 23, Dorin Nguema 7, Noah Jones 10.
GILLETTE
Dane Christensen 14, Andrew Fuquay 10, Caleb Hollenbeck 23, Jefferson Neary 4, Dorell Thomas 15, Sayed Sayed 9, Malique Moss 15, Aly Sakho 7, Javonne Nesbit 15.