CHEYENNE, WY – A strong defensive effort and a big game by the freshman class for Laramie County Community College propelled the women's basketball team to a 71-67 win over Gillette College, gaining some revenge for a loss to the Pronghorns in Gillette earlier this season.

"We came out and we wanted it. We had something to play for but ultimately, I think we saw how hard we worked the last two weeks in practice and that we still have a goal, and we aren't backing down," Head Coach Danielle Rinaldo said.

The opening salvos featured three ties and four lead changes into the opening media timeout and both teams tied at eight with 4:40 to go. LCCC doubled up the Pronghorns over the next four minutes and took a 16-12 lead into the second quarter.

Gillette took their lead back thanks to a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of the second quarter to go up 19-16 and force an LCCC timeout.

The Golden Eagles looked to sophomore guard Flora Lukow who rallied the team for a 5-1 surge that gave them the lead back at 21-20 and extended to a 17-5 run to give them a 33-24 lead on a Kelly Megown three. Gillette did close the gap slightly to 33-28, going into the half but LCCC held control.

Physicality was the name of the game for most of the third quarter. Gillette got into foul trouble early and after trailing 36-34 early, the Golden Eagles used the extra whistles to pull away with Marcela Pinedo-Saavedra, who had been dealing with foul trouble herself in the first half, going on a 5-0 run herself to take the lead back and then push LCCC ahead 45-39 at the media timeout.

With multiple players contributing to runs in the first half and the early second, Lukow said it is fun to see the depth of the team on display.

"I feel that is one of our biggest strengths, that we have such a big bench," the German sophomore said. "As you could tell today, the ones who aren't getting that much court time, who aren't used to situations like this, they stepped up and adapted to their positions."

The lead swelled to nine at 51-42 and Gillette made a charge, cutting it down to 51-48 before Jessica Taylor nailed a three to give the cushion back to the Golden Eagles going to the fourth quarter.

LCCC saw their offense dry up from the field as the Pronghorns marched back into the game slowly in the fourth quarter, eventually tying the game at 63 for the sixth tie of the game and one that featured seven lead changes.

Gillette ended up sending the Golden Eagles to the foul line and there would not be an eighth lead change. LCCC lead all the way to the finish, making free throws from Lukow and Taylor to ice the game and earn the 71-67 win.

Taylor, who had her best statistic game as a Golden Eagle said as a freshman, it took some time to get to a comfort level.

"I think I was mostly inspired by all of the other girls and seeing the work they were putting in as well, it just inspired me to put out a little bit more and try a bit more on the court, so definitely all the girls and the sophomore's have helped me quite a bit."  

Sabela Carro was consistent on the offensive end for the Golden Eagles, scoring in every quarter on the way to a game high 19 points on 9-14 shooting. Fellow freshman Nuria Florensa and Taylor both finished with 12 points and Lukow added another 11.

Florense also had five assists and seven rebounds in the game along with three steals, all of which led the LCCC roster.

As a team, the Golden Eagles forced 28 turnovers while only committing 18 themselves and they had 16 assists as a team to just nine for Gillette. LCCC also held the Pronghorns to just 12 percent from three and 36 percent from the field. The only major category the Pronghorns won was the rebounding stat where they nearly doubled up the Golden Eagles.

"Maybe they were more aggressive on the boards, but those were all things we made up for. And it was hard inside with both of our bigs in foul trouble there at the end and we had five guards on the floor," Rinaldo said.

The win puts the Golden Eagle women into a tie for fourth in the conference standings with one more weekend of regular season action remaining. The women will travel to Casper College on Friday at 5:30 for the Oil and Rail series before closing out the season at Western Wyoming Community College on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm.

"We are just going to keep moving forward from this game and keep pushing," Taylor said. "I feel like all the girls are on a high right now and that's why I feel if we can keep pushing, we can move forward through these games as well."

More information on these games and the full LCCC women's basketball schedule can be found at www.golccc.com.