GILLETTE, WY – The Laramie County Community College women's basketball team had their best performance of the season on the offensive side of the ball en route to an 85-70 win over United Tribes Technical College to open the Pronghorn Winter Classic on Friday afternoon.
The first quarter opened with an even pace from the two teams with LCCC breaking an eight all tie after a fast break lay up and went into the media timeout with a 12-8 advantage. The dam broke open from there as three-point shooting and trips to the free throw line helped the Golden Eagles extend the lead to 30-19 at the break.
The Golden Eagles success from beyond the arc slowed down in the opening minutes of the second quarter but good defense helped lead to inside opportunities and more trips to the line to keep the lead intact.
A burst at the end of the second quarter that was capped off by a Flora Lukow three at the buzzer helped to nearly double the lead at the half for LCCC with a 21-point advantage, up 54-33.
The defense continued to lead to offense in the third quarter as the lead continued to swell off of fast break lay ups. United Tribes helped aid the pace of the game with short possessions on their side of the ball and the lead hit 30 points with two and a half minutes left in the quarter.
A small push by UTTC closed the gap back down to 74-48 going into the fourth quarter but the Golden Eagles were firmly in control.
LCCC was forced to take a timeout early in the fourth after a 6-0 run in the first two minutes by UTTC, but the drought continued until Nuria Florensa made a fast break layup to end the run at 10-0.
Fatigue from a short bench and a fast-paced game began to have its toll on the Golden Eagles and with four minutes left, UTTC hit a three to bring themselves within 16 points. LCCC answered with a Lukow three and from there the energy seemed to return to the Golden Eagles.
The two teams settled into a back and forth and LCCC closed out the win 85-70 to improve to 3-4 on the season.
The team was led by an impressive 27 points from Nuria Florensa who was especially good from the foul line going 9-10 in the game.
Marcela Pinedo-Saavedra picked up a second consecutive double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds and both Lukow and Irelynd Barnes finished with 11 and 10 points respectively.
The Golden Eagles shot 45 percent from three in the first half and in the game were able to shoot 38.9 percent from the field. The capitalized at the line shooting 74 percent in the gam on 23 attempts. They also dominated on the boards, outrebounding UTTC 42-33 including 20 offensive rebounds.
The Golden Eagles will have a short turnaround when they are back on the court at 10:00 AM against Colorado Northwest Community College. Streaming information and more can be found at www.golccc.com.