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WNCC women use tough defense to roll past Colby

By MARK REIN
(as printed in the Nov. 9, 2002, Scottsbluff Star-Herald)

When the Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team applies its stiff defense, there is no telling how far this team can go.  Case in point came Friday night, as the Colby Community College Trojans were stifled in the second half as the Cougars outscored the Trojans 41-18 en route to a 79-43 win in the second day of the Lady Cougar Early Bird Shootout at Cougar Palace.

Action continues today as Colby will face Concordia University Junior Varsity at 1 p.m., followed by WNCC and Sheridan at 3 p.m.

WNCC showcases an intense brand of ball and freshman Crystal Hardin said what the Cougars did defensively against Colby is an indication of the pressure they will apply night in and night out. "We will play hard (defensively) with a lot of intensity every game," she said. "I think we are pretty strong right now, and we will get a lot stronger as long as we keep working together as a team."

WNCC coach Dave Harnish said the difference between the first half and second half was the defensive intensity. "We gave up eight points on inbounds plays (in the first half) and some easy baskets on transition," he said. "Then in the second half, I thought we did an outstanding job of keeping them out of their offense. We kept the pressure on them for 40 minutes and we, in a sense, just wore them down in the second half. We were substituting, playing all 12 girls and keeping fresh kids on them. I thought that was a key — to have defensive pressure out front and not let their big kids control the boards."

WNCC ran out to a 38-25 lead at halftime behind the play of Harden’s shooting from beyond the 3-point arc and the defensive intensity of sophomore Shana Coleman. Harden nailed four 3-pointers in the opening half, including two within minutes of
each other to push the lead to 29-16.

Coleman, in the meantime, was a thief on the court as she recorded back-to-back steals and layups early in the game. Coleman had six of her game-high eight steals in the first half. WNCC had 22 steals as a team, compared to just two for Colby.

The Cougars stretched their 13-point halftime lead into the 36-point win because of the defensive intensity the team applied. Harden said Harnish told the team in the locker room that if they wanted to win the game, they needed to pick up the
defense in the second half. They did just that.

"He told us if we want to win the game, we will have to get out hard in the first five minutes (of the second half)," she said. "We came out and our intensity was up high. We just came out and played together."

Harden said the reason for their strong defense against Colby was because they worked on defending the1-3-1 zone, and it paid off.

"I think we came together as a team today," she said. "We worked in practice (Friday) how they (Colby) play in a 1-3-1 zone and we adjusted. We didn’t really let them run their offense. We came out and executed pretty good. We had a couple of bad plays, but overall we played together as a team."

The Cougars’ second-half defense stifled the Trojan offense. WNCC forced 13 second-half turnovers and held Colby to 0-for-4 shooting from the 3-point arc, 9 of 23 from the field and just one free-throw attempt. WNCC had 14 points off turnovers in both halves.

The Cougars’ second-half defense was a team effort as freshman Sevinc Guler came in late in the half and collected five quick rebounds and had a steal. The second half offensive explosion was also a team effort. Freshman 6-foot-2 center Tatiana Conceicao had 14 of her game-high 19 points, including making 6 of 7 free throws.

For the game, Conceicao and Coleman finished with 19 points each, while Harden finished with 12 points and Denisha Fields had 10.  The Trojans had just two players in double figures, led by Andrea Stephens and Louise McLean with 10 points each.

WNCC 79, Colby Community College 43
Colby CC 25 18 — 43
WNCC 38 41 — 79

WNCC
Crystal Harden 12, Molly McGrath 1, Sevinc Guler 3, Denisha Fields 10, Brittney Bessert 8, Petra Puchelova 2, Bridgett Murtagh 4, Sherronda Appleberry 1,  Shana Coleman 19, Tatiana Conceircao 19. Totals: 28 17-29 — 79.
Colby Community College
Ashley Stull 2, Bojana Samardziska 4, Andrea Stephens 10, Ivana Drmanic 3, Louise McLean 10, Karli Sherwood 8, Ashley Blickenstaff 6. Totals: 20 2-3 — 43