POWELL, WY – A pair of double doubles and a strong defensive showing in the first half propelled the Laramie County Community College women's basketball team to a 69-54 win over Northwest College on Saturday evening to move the Golden Eagles to 2-2 in Region IX North action and 9-11 overall.
The game opened with a fair split between Northwest and the Golden Eagles until LCCC busted the game open with a 10-0 run that was triggered by a Kelly Megown three that gave a 19-9 lead to LCCC before the Trappers could answer back.
The quarter ended with the lead at 21-13 and Head Coach Ayana McWilliams said it was one of their better starts of the season.
"I thought we did a really good job of coming out and keeping everything out in front of us and getting out to the start that we needed being on the road."
Both defenses clamped down in the opening minutes of the second and the first basket wasn't scored until after two minutes had ticked off of the clock when Tamara Smith White made back-to-back baskets giving LCCC a 25-13 lead and forcing a Northwest timeout.
The Trappers did score out of the break, but it didn't slow down the tide as LCCC rolled into another 6-0 run and pushed the lead to 31-15 as they continued to dominate the first half.
LCCC rarely missed in the first half from the field, and McWilliams credited it to being patient and waiting for good looks.
"We didn't force a lot of rushed shots. We got the ball into the interior and attacked them, tried to keep them on their heels a little bit and didn't settle for the outside shots."
Northwest did close the gap to just 15 at the end of the quarter but not before LCCC had built a game high lead of 18 just minutes before on the way to a 38-23 advantage at the break.
A scoring drought opened the second half for LCCC, and the Golden Eagles were unable to score until a Blanche Toualeu free throw got the scoring going, but the defense kept the Trappers from gaining any ground.
Both teams traded baskets through the rest of the quarter and the lead remained double digits going to the fourth with the Golden Eagles still in control up 53-41, although a pair of threes in the final minute from Northwest narrowed the lead for LCCC.
The threes continued to fall for Northwest in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter with another pair closing the score to 53-47 on a 6-0 run forcing an LCCC timeout. The lead was cut all the way to one before the Golden Eagles scored for the first time in the fourth quarter with 4:30 remaining, but that bucket would spark a 9-0 run from LCCC to rebuild the lead to 62-52.
That included two threes from Tyra Lovelock who only took three shots in the game, making all of them including the clutch threes late.
"She got a really good look at it. The ball went in and came back out to her and any time that ball goes inside and there's a collapse on the interior, we always tell her to be ready to shoot when the ball comes back out. She did that and stepped up and knocked down two huge ones," McWilliams said.
LCCC closed the game on a 16-2 run to finish the win with confidence for a 69-54 victory and their second in a row.
Toualeu finished the game with a team high 20 points followed closely by Spring with 19. The pair both also finished with double double's, with Toualeu grabbing 15 rebounds and Spring another 13. It was a near triple double for Toualeu who also finished the game with eight assists.
"Blanche is a very solid all-around kid, very unselfish. She understands her opportunities and at the same time knows when to pass," McWilliams said.
Spring's 13 rebounds also gave her the school record for most rebounds in a career, passing Sam Hester early in the third quarter and she finished the game with 464 in her career. She also holds the school record for most blocks in a career.
"She has been huge and that's what you want coaching kids," McWilliams said in praising the sophomore from Australia. "They set the tone for what you want your program to look like and Lylah has been a very good example of that for two years straight."
Two other Golden Eagles finished with double digits, with Megown adding 13 and another 10 from Tyra Lovelock.
After a short respite, LCCC will be back on the road on Wednesday when they travel to Casper College for their first game against the Thunderbirds. Tip of that game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and more information can be found at www.golccc.com.