Cougar women erupt in season-opening rout

Complete Box Score

By J.R. OPPENHEIM
Star-Herald Sports Reporter

If its first performance of the season is any indication, the Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team should be headed toward another stellar season. The Cougar offense dominated Roane State Community College while the defense held the Raiderettes’ offense to a 39 percent shooting average in Friday’s season-opening 112-54 win.
WNCC controlled the pace from the start.

“That’s something you always worry about, when you get up 15 or 20 or 30 points — how your team is going to respond,” WNCC women’s coach Dave Harnish said. “I thought we had the killer instinct throughout the game.”

That killer instinct was felt early. Following a game-opening 3-pointer from Roane State’s Jenny Hinds, two back-to-back treys from WNCC’s Shantel Muniz and Crystal Harden kicked off a 25-4 scoring run. The flurry was capped by Denisha Fields’ offensive rebound and put back.

The Cougars continued their scoring frenzy through the remainder of the half. With WNCC holding a 46-23 lead as halftime approached, the Cougars had another big run.

Sparked by a Harden bucket, the Cougars extended their lead to 58-25 via a 12-0 run. The only thing that could snap the streak was the halftime buzzer, as Brittany Bessert scored the last bucket of the half off a Molly McGrath assist.

“You never know in the first game. You just go out to try to play well and take it one game at a time,” Harnish said. “Our expectations were to get better and certainly win the game. It’s a situation where we need to learn full-court presses. We need to learn how to play against zone because I thought (Roane) threw a lot of stuff at us tonight, and they responded well.”
The Cougars came out of the locker room with the same intensity and pressure that they had in the first half. They outscored the Raiderettes 54-29 to capture the win.

Despite the lopsided score, Harish said he’s not going to get too excited yet. The Cougars, he said, still have much to prove. “Obviously, things looked good tonight, but definitely with the way we played, we have a lot of depth,” he said. “We have a good selection based on quickness and we can get a solid lineup in there. To find out if we’re going to shoot the ball that well every night or if we’re going to dominate defensively and force them to turn the ball over 30 times every night, it’s hard to tell. Right now, I think the key is in our bench and the depth that we have.”

Harden paced the Cougars’ offense with a game-leading 19 points and seven assists. Bessert added to the scoring with 17 points. McGrath also saw double-digit scoring with 13 points.

“I would have been disappointed by the sophomores not stepping up and doing the things they needed to do,” Harnish said. “They did that tonight and showed great leadership based on how hard they played and giving us points. Crystal attacked the basket really well. With her penetration, she finished well. I thought Brittany did the same thing.”

Harnish was also pleased with the performance of his freshman class. Six freshmen contributed points. Leading the newcomers in scoring was Silva DaSilva, who recorded 14 points. She also had four assists.

“We definitely have the bench. I was surprised with some of the freshmen and some of the things they did and how they responded,” Harnish said. “For the first game, I was really pleased with how everybody responded to the situation, especially with the freshmen and how they adjusted to the game of college ball.”

Roane State    25 29 — 54
WNCC    58 54 — 112
WNCC
Crystal Harden 19, Molly McGrath 13, Silva DaSilva 14, Denisha Fields 9, Brittany Bessert 17, Shantel Muniz 3, Ronnie Curren 4, Sherronda Appleberry 8, April Olson 4, Ashley Bessert 8, Tatiana Conceicao 5, Meghan McKinney.
ROANE STATE
Stephanie Jarnigan 4, Krystal Ridge 1, Brittany Walker 6, April Hickok 2, Erica Whittenburg 6, Mallory Walker 2, Jenny Hinds 7, Cassie Woody 11, Brandie Seiber 6, Ashley Heneger 4, Bethany Hollingsworth 2, DeeAnna Donaldson 3.