The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team started fast and led from start to finish in staying unbeaten in the South Sub-region with a 72-50 win over Otero Junior College Friday evening at Cougar Palace.
WNCC, in posting its 16th win of the season, put three players in double figures. It was also the Cougars' ninth straight win.
Mikayla Gonzales, who finished with seven points, said this team is starting to find itself during the nine-game winning streak.
"Everyone is starting to gel more and understand everything, all the offenses, all the plays," she said. "It is just coming together for us more as a team. We are starting to bond more as a team."
Friday night, the Cougars definitely bonded, leading from start to finish. Still, Gonzales said they had their rough patches, but they brought it back together quick.
"I thought we played tough," the freshman from Castle Rock, Colorado, said. "We made some mistakes here and there but in the end we pulled together and we made up for our mistakes."
A big key in the win was the fast start. WNCC jumped out to an 11-0 lead before Otero scored its first bucket with 4:30 to play and a lot of that was because of strong defense that started early and really, stayed intense throughout.
The defense generated 13 steals, four from Hannah Sparks and forced a 10-second backcourt violation. It is that defense that sparks the offense, Gonzales said.
"On the defensive end it is very important to finish and capitalize on all the steals and their turnovers," she said. "I think tonight we did a good job of making the most out of our steals and the most out of their turnovers."
After WNCC led 11-0 to start the game, the Cougars held just a 12-7 lead after the first quarter. WNCC started the second quarter on an 8-point run behind back-to-back buckets by Myriam Garcia. Otero sliced the lead to eight points at 23-15 on a 3-pointer by Macy Myers, but the Cougars regrouped behind that strong defense with a 12-7 run to lead 35-22 at intermission.
The third quarter was evening played as both teams scored 21 points for a 56-43 halftime lead.
The fourth quarter was all WNCC, outscoring the Rattlers 16-7, including starting the final stanza with 11 straight points, including a 3-pointer by Bree Paulson.
The Cougars were led in scoring by Sladjana Rakovic with 15 points followed by Sparks and Kalli Feddersen with 12 points each. Zeynep Canbaz chipped in nine points.
Gonzales said that the balanced scoring that they received is something that helps the team. Nine different players put the ball through the net in the win.
"That is nice and it is good to see everybody out there doing what they can do best," she said.
WNCC also pulled down 36 rebounds, led by Feddersen's eight boards. Feddersen also had six assists to lead the team.
The Cougars shot 47 percent from the field while holding the Rattlers to 36 percent.
Otero connected on six treys and shot 83 percent from the free throw line (10 of 12). Myers had four of the six treys to finish with a team-high 16 points.
WNCC, 16-2, will have a week off as they host Fort Berthold Community College Saturday Jan. 23 at 1 p.m.
Otero (6-11) 7 15 21 7 – 50
WNCC (16-2) 12 23 21 16 – 72
OTERO
Shelby Patterson 10, Savannah Madrid-Andrews 3, Macy Myers 16, Delaney Gaddis 5, Heather Estrada 4, Elin Ekdahl 6, Madeline Jacquart 6.
WNCC
Kalli Feddersen 12, Sladjana Rakovic 15, Hannah Sparks 12, Ozge Yarga 2, Luize Skrastina 3, Zeynep Canbaz 9, Bree Paulson 8, Mikayla Gonzales 7, Myriam Garcia 4.