Western Nebraska women top MCC 66-50

SCOTTSBLUFF – The Western Nebraska Community College women topped McCook Community College Friday in Cougar Palace 66-50.

“It's the same story for us in our losses this year,” said MCC Coach Brandon Pritchett. “We shoot the ball well from the field, but we have 22 turnovers.”

The Cougars outscored MCC 22-10 in the first quarter and led at the half 40-19.

“We didn't defend well in the first half, giving up too many paint touches,” said Pritchett.

MCC scored the first nine points of the third quarter to cut the deficit from 21 points to 12 and enjoyed an 18-13 quarter advantage.

“We played our defense in the second half,” said Pritchett. “We have to put together 40 minutes of great play, not just 20 minutes versus really good teams.”

The Cougars shot 33.3 percent from the field, made seven of 25 3-point shots (28 percent) and went 13-for-18 from the free throw line (72.2 percent). WNCC outrebounded MCC 45-40.

“I didn’t like that we gave them 20 offensive rebounds,” said Pritchett.

MCC shot 34 percent from the floor, five-for-13 from the arc (38.5 percent) and 13 of 18 from the line (73.3 percent). The Lady Indians turned the ball over 22 times.

Gemma Gruettner Bacoul (Berlin, Germany) led MCC with 27 points and nine rebounds. Audra Vine (Thornton, Colo.) scored 13 points. Noa Iglesias Chorda (Barcelona, Spain) had five rebounds.

“Gemma played much better today, back to her normal aggressive self,” said Pritchett noting that she hadn’t been finishing strong the last couple games but against Western Nebraska she didn't settle for shots and took shots within the offense.

“And Audra shot it well tonight and we need to do a better job of finding her within what we do,” said Pritchett.

Western Nebraska improves to 20-3 and 4-0 in the south division of Region IX

MCC falls to 11-10 and 2-3 in the south standings.

The Lady Indians are home Tuesday for a Nebraska conference game against North Platte starting at 5:30 p.m.

Up-to-date information about MCC basketball including schedules, statistics, rosters and photos can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com.