CHEYENNE, WY – The Laramie County Community College women's basketball team nearly erased an 18-point deficit in the second half but ran out of gas late as Western Nebraska Community College picked up a 72-62 win at Storey Gym on Monday night.
The Golden Eagles got out to the early lead with a 5-4 lead just minutes into the contest, but a hot hand from outside in Jayla Owen helped the Cougars spur out in front after the freshman started the first half by making her first four threes of the night.
It wasn't just one Cougar who heated up early from outside. WNCC shot 50 percent from three in the first half an 44 percent from the field compared to just 9-23 shooting from LCCC as the Cougars were able to take a 38-24 lead into the halftime locker room.
"I don't think we did a really good job of defending them in the first half," Head Coach Ayana McWilliams said. "We missed a lot of key things coming into the game that first half and I thought we paid attention to them in the second half.
Early on, it looked like that lead would only grow when Western Nebraska built the lead to 18 at 46-28 after four minutes of the third quarter.
That was when the rally began for the Golden Eagles. Led by Lylah Spring, Jamy de Kock and Monique Marcetic-Voatangi, LCCC would claw their way to a seven-point game at the end of the third, and eventually would reclaim the lead at 57-56 with only five minutes left.
"It was huge," McWilliams said of the amped up effort that brought the team back in the second half. "Honestly, I told them they need to find a way to bring that kind of fire, that kind of intensity from start to finish. If they play like that, we won't have any kind of doubt about the outcome of games a lot of times."
The media time out came just in time for WNCC and they used the break to reclaim the momentum, and used a slower pace to limit the attack by the Golden Eagle and used their size inside to build the lead back up to double digits, aided in the process by a long scoring drought by Laramie County who were outscored 12-2 down the stretch.
Spring finished one rebound shy of a double-double and her 20 points were a game high for both teams. The freshman post also added another three blocks to her conference leading total of 41.
"Lylah came out with a ton of fire from the beginning, saw a lot of early success and put them in foul trouble early," McWilliams said.
De Kock and Marcetic-Voatangi both also finished in double digits with 12 and 10 apiece respectively.
It was turnovers in the first half that hurt the Golden Eagles the most, giving the ball away 13 times in the half compared to just five in the second half. WNCC also used their height advantage inside to outrebound Laramie County 42-34, including a 14-6 edge on the offensive glass.
LCCC won't have long to think about the loss. They have a quick turnaround to Wednesday night when Casper College and the 17th ranked Thunderbirds will make the trip to Storey Gym. Opening tip is scheduled for 5:30 pm and tickets are available for the game at www.golccc.com.