WNCC women shine
Lady Cougars down North Platte. 94-44

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(From the Desk of Mark Rein, Unofficial Sports Information Director)

Defense, offense, inside scoring, 3-point bombs, steals and assists.

Pick any of those words and that is what the Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team used to down the North Platte Community College Knights 94-44 Tuesday night at Cougar Palace.

The win was not only a Cougars 16th straight win and pushed their record to 23-2 on the season, but it was a team effort where four players saw double-digit scoring.

WNCC sophomore Shana Coleman said they did it all in the win.

"I think we played well around. We did all those things (above)," she said. "We had a shot around earlier (in the afternoon) that got us loose for the game to hit those shots. We just practiced hard all week for this to happen."

The flash of supremacy started early as the Cougars went on a 3-point shooting barrage led by Brittney Bessert and Bridgett Murtagh. Bessert nailed two treys early on and then Murtagh sank a trey to give the a 19-6 lead. Murtagh 3-pointer was part of a 16-0 which say the Cougars jumper out to a 29-6 lead before NPCC’s Maranda Lockett nailed two free throws to stop the run.

It was Lockett’s two free throws that started a mini run for the Knights as North Platte outscored the Cougars 10-0 to cut the lead to 29-16 on three straight buckets by Mindy Humphrey. But, Molly McGrath, the little defensive sparkplug she is, stopped the run with a bucket and then came back with a steal another bucket to push the lead to 33-16.

WNCC then went on to outscore the Knights 19-8 the last five minutes of the half to grab a commanding 52-24 lead at halftime.

The second half wasn’t any different for the Cougars as they utilized everyone on the bench and every one of the players excelled. The Cougar starters played just five minutes of the second half and before coming out of the game for good, Bessert knocked down five 3-pointers to lead all players with 17 points.

After the starters exited, the Cougars non-starters excelled as well. Leading 73-30 after the Knights DyNesha Fields scored four points, WNCC went on a 13-0 run to grab a 50-point lead at 80-30. During the run, the Cougars Murtagh nailed her second 3-pointer of the game.

North Platte didn’t give up as they continued to battle the remaining five minutes. Jessica Porter, a Bridgeport graduate, started things with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 87-36. Sevinc Gular answered Porter’s trey, but Porter came right back to nail two free throws and then another trey for her eight points on the night.

The key in the game was shooting as the Cougars were 45 percent from the field, 42 percent from the 3-point arc and 86 percent from the charity stripe. North Platte in the meantime was 24 percent from the field, 11 percent from the 3-point line and 72 percent from the free throw line.

WNCC had 23 steals and forced 29 turnovers in the game. Sherronda Appleberry and Shana Coleman led the stealing charge with five a piece.

WNCC put four players in double figures led by Bessert’s 17 followed by Karol Salazar with 14, Coleman with 13 and Murtagh with 10. North Platte was led by Chadron graduate Heidi Kubo with nine followed by Porter and Mindy Humphrey with eight points each.

The Cougar women will next be in action Friday when they travel to Torrington, Wyo., to face the 22-4 Northwest Wyoming Trappers, the No. 2 team in Region IX at 5 p.m.

"We know we have to play hard all the time and we know it is a big game for us," Coleman said. "So, we are going to come out and play our hardest in order to win that game."

North Platte 24 20 – 44
WNCC 52 42 – 94

NORTH PLATTE CC
Jennifer Tines 2, Brenda Hampton 4, Jessica Porter 8, Maranda Lockett 4, Heather Blanchard 2, Mindy Humphrey 8, DyNesha Johnson 4, Sarah Haier 4, Heidi Kubo 9.

WNCC
Crystal Harden 8, Molly McGrath 7, Digdem Tok 5, Sevinc Guler 5, Denisha Fields 5, Brittney Bessert 17, Bridgett Murtagh 10, Karol Salazar 14, Sherronda Appleberry 4, Shana Coleman 13, Tatiana Conceicao 6.