The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team used a 16-7 run in the fourth quarter to down McCook Community College 68-55 in a South Sub-region contest Wednesday evening at Cougar Palace.

                The win keeps the Cougars in line to win the South Sub-region as they move to 9-3 in conference and 19-9 overall. Lamar leads the South with a 9-2 conference record.

                Other conference games on Wednesday saw Southeast beat Otero 72-68, North Platte top Northeastern 65-58, Lamar down Trinidad State 89-63, Central Wyoming top Northwest 78-65, and Eastern Wyoming defeated Casper 59-58.

                WNCC will wrap up the regular season with two road games when they travel to North Platte Community College on Saturday and then head to Sterling, Colorado, to face Northeastern Junior College on Feb. 28.

                The win was the Cougars final regular-season home game, and two players were recognized after the game. Zozefine Sipolina and Ruth Lively will graduate in May and both were recognized.

                Lively, a freshman who will graduate in May and transfer to UNK, said the team played well.

                "This was a pretty big especially since we lost to them on the road last time and it was close," Lively, the Scottsbluff graduate said. "I think it was really big for us to just get our confidence back and, standing-wise, puts us in second and one step closer to winning (the sub-region)."

                While Lively has played just one year at WNCC before graduating, Sipolina has been here for two years. Sipolina finished the night with 10 points with two 3-pointers and she said they played well.

                Sipolina said the team had a lot of energy tonight and everyone contributed in some fashion to get the win.

                "The team energy today was awesome, so I think that's one of the reasons why we won," the sophomore from Latvia said. "I like to say that this game is an example of how we should play the last games that we have and we just have to be in that kind of pace and be aggressive and everything."

                For Lively, the one year that she spent at WNCC on the basketball team was a big learning experience.

                "I think it's been a great learning experience like just with everybody learning how to come together as a team through the ups and downs of the season," Lively said. "I think I've grown tremendously from the beginning of the season."

                For Sipolina, she wasn't expecting to get an offer to play in the states and now she found another home in western Nebraska.

                "I would say this whole thing of coming over here was unexpected because I was not expecting that I was going to get this offer," she said. "Once I came here, I loved it here. I loved the coaches. They are just caring about us all the time and doing their best so we can be the best person, the best versions of ourselves.

                Both Lively and Sipolina started in the last home game and the Cougars jumped put to an 8-5 lead early. McCook came back to lead 9-8 and it was tied at 11-11. That was when the Cougars changed the momentum as Sipolina hit a 3-pointer and then Brynn Sybrant had a bucket to lead 16-11 after one.

                The second quarter saw the Cougars lead by eight points early and then held a 32-24 lead at halftime.

                The third quarter saw McCook get to within one at 34-33. WNCC followed with a 10-3 run that saw Juseana-Rae Delatori hit a 3-pointer and Charisma Johnson get an old-fashioned 3-point play to lead 44-36. WNCC led after three periods 50-42.

                WNCC started slow in the fourth quarter as McCook got to within four at 52-48 on a bucket by Jacelyn Jorgensen. That was when WNCC ignited s they went on a 10-0 run to lead 62-48 after a Ella Chesta-Carty steal and bucket and capped it off with back-to-back 3-pointers from Chesta-Carty and Sipolina to lead 62-48.

                McCook made a mini run to make it a 62-55 with just over a minute to play, but the Cougars held McCook scoreless the rest of the way as they scored the next six points all on free throws.

                WNCC was 11-of-15 from the free throw line while McCook was just 1-of-3 from the line. Both teams shot 41 percent from the field (25-of-61). The difference was 3-point shooting where WNCC made seven triples and McCook just four.

                WNCC had three players in double figures, led by Chesta-Carty with 21 followed by Johnson with 15 and Sipolina with 10.

                For Lively and Sipolina, they were overcome with emotion after the game as all the sophomores on the basketball teams were recognized between the games.

                "It was a really special moment just to tell the coaches how much their impact has been on me and being able to kind of finish it out," Lively said. "It was really special, but the season's not done yet. We need to win the next two and hopefully Lamar will lose and we can get back up to that number one seed. And, if not, then we'll just take the next game that we get and win and hopefully go all the way."

                For Sipolina, she definitely got choked up as she was recognized after the game as one of two players that will be leaving next year.

                "It was really emotional and I was not thinking that I was going to get emotional, but I did get pretty emotional because I didn't think about it at first," she said. "So, now it's just thinking that I'm going leave."

McCook             11 13 18 13 – 55
WNCC                16 16 18 18 – 68
MCCOOK
Laia Izquierdo Altimira 18, Stephanie Nnabuihe 12, Carolina Garcia Perdomo 6, Jacelyn Jorgensen 6, Mar Molina Munoz 5, Johanna Gerlach 2, Neveah Lucero 2, Peyton Cox 2, Claudia Serrador Cortazar 2.
WNCC
Ella Chesta-Carty 21, Charisma Johnson 15, Zo Sipolina 10, Juseana-Rae Delatori 8, Celina Donyo 7, Brynn Sybrant 5.