The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team put the turmoil of the past few days…which included forfeiting 13 of its 14 wins and having center Evgenia Samorodova declared ineligible by the NJCAA…behind it last night and ran past the Colorado Christian University Junior Varsity 71-53 in Lakewood, Colo.
The game was WNCC’s last one of the semester and Cougar coach Dave Harnish called it “a good win to go into break,” especially given what the team has gone through and that they were missing several starters.
His review of his team’s play was more mixed. Harnish said they struggled in the first half…leading by only 13 at halftime…and didn’t finish strong in the final 4 or 5 minutes, but played well the rest of the time in pushing the lead to a many as 30 points.
WNCC showed the depth of their bench, as every Cougar who suited up played. Harnish says it was a good night to play everyone and that they all “did a decent job”…also another good way to finish off the semester.
Kelsey Doddridge and Mauriissa Ortega each hit three 3-pointers en route to double digit nights…a game-high 18 points for Doddridge and 16 for Ortega. The Cougars other trey on the night came from Mikayla Brower, who ended with 9 points…as did former Bridgeport star Ashley Stevens.
WNCC is off until January 7th, when they travel to Goodland, Kan., to take on Northwest Kansas Technical College…followed by the sub-regional opener on the road at Lamar Community College.
Harnish wishes the team didn’t have a 3-week break because they’ve been playing so well. “You really don’t want to stop; you want to keep playing while the team is playing well. You are always scared with the 3-week break what they are going to come back like.
Still, Harnish…who is in his 25th season coaching the Cougars…is optimistic “we can pick up where we left off.” He says the win over Colorado Christian sends the players out with a positive attitude, so he’s hopeful they will “have a positive attitude, work hard over break, and come back and start up where we ended.”