TORRINGTON, WY – Despite on of their better offensive performances and a record-breaking night from sophomore Kelly Megown, the Laramie County Community College women's basketball team dropped their conference road game against Eastern Wyoming College 84-71, falling to 3-6 in conference play and 12-13 overall.
"I just felt like we couldn't put together consistent possessions as far as stopping them, getting us a bucket and scoring, and getting another stop. We just fell short of putting a consistent game together and showing that we wanted to win," Head Coach Danielle Rinaldo said after the game.
The game opened up with a bit of bookkeeping early when Megown tied the career three-point mark with the 113th of her career to tie the game at six in the first two minutes. The trend of ties would continue with five of them in the first half until EWC broke away from 16 all with a 5-0 run to go up 21-16.
Megown closed the first quarter with the three that gave her the record and brought LCCC back to a two-point game at 21-19 after the opening period.
"When she can start hitting those threes and I can see it in her eyes that she's about to have a game, let's feed her, that goes a long way for us because it hopefully opens up other people offensively for us. She had a great game and I'm really proud of her," Rinaldo said.
The Golden Eagles continued to keep the game close despite both defenses stepping up. The Lancers were the first to take advantage and pulled away to take a 37-29 lead, but Megown headed up again and helped the Golden Eagles on a 9-4 run to trim the gap back to 41-38.
A late surge from Eastern Wyoming took the Lancers into the half up 45-39.
"At halftime we talked about finishing possessions," Rinaldo said. "We played really good offense for 20 seconds and then we throw up a rushed shot in the last ten seconds. Or defensively we'd play 20 seconds of really good defense, and we just let those last ten seconds fall short.
The lead grew to ten in the first few minutes of the second half with the Lancers going up 53-43, but more Megown offense also followed with another two threes from the Las Vegas, Nevada native who tied the single game mark for threes with the second of the two that closed the gap to 53-49.
"It feels really good because I've had a lot of ups and downs, especially during the conference season, and I just was trying to hit my shots, so it was kind of a relief," Megown said. "I think all of us got off to a quick start and that helped me to make my shots."
That would be the closest LCCC would get for the remainder of the game. The Lancers closed the third quarter with a 15-6 run that spanned into the fourth quarter and pushed the lead to a game high 68-55.
LCCC trimmed it back to 72-65 with a few minutes left but the Lancers had another big run in them, this one 11-3, and pulled ahead 83-68 with just under a minute to go in the game as EWC evened the season series with the Golden Eagles thanks to an 84-71 win.
Megown was one of just two Golden Eagles to reach double figures, going 7-12 from three-point range for 22 points while adding three assists and three rebounds.
Sabela Carro was also strong as she finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, and six assists despite fouling out of the game in the fourth quarter.
"When we only have two starters finishing with double digit points that hurts," Rinaldo said. "We have to have more people stepping up offensively and the five on the court have to find some form of chemistry. It's been hard for us to find five that can be on the same page for a long duration."
Carro's performance was one that Rinaldo did say was due and came after a lot of work in the previous weeks by the freshman.
"I think this week, after having few one on one's and talking about what we needed to work on, she bought in. She refocused and it showed in practice this week and it showed today that she has settled in to how she normally plays," Rinaldo said.
As a team, LCCC finished shooting a quality 36 percent from deep but struggled from the field, shooting just 39 percent as a team. They also struggled at the line, going just 5-12. Meanwhile, the Lancers caught fire in their home gym, making 54 percent of their shots and shooting 47 percent from three. LCCC also turned the ball over 21 times compared to just 13 forced in the game.
The loss means the Golden Eagles still need a win in their final three games to secure a postseason spot. The Golden Eagles are also in position for a possible home game with Eastern Wyoming College and Northwest College all battling for the final home position.
LCCC faces off with Gillette College next on sophomore night with the opening tip on Friday evening scheduled for 5:30 pm. More information on the game and the full schedule can be found at www.golccc.com.