Lady Indians top Wyoming all-stars for third straight win
RIVERTON, Wyo. – The McCook Community College women’s basketball team picked up its third straight win of the week taking an 80-45 win over a team of Wyoming all-stars in the Central Wyoming Classic Tournament.
“These games are always a little different to play. You don't know what you are going to get with all-star teams that are put together,” said MCC Coach Brandon Pritchett.
MCC came out of the first quarter with a 21-9 lead, made it a 38-22 game at the half then outscored the all-stars 23-6 in the third. The Lady Indians enjoyed a 21-9 edge in fast-break points and outscored the Wyoming team in the paint 32-16.
“I thought we played all four quarters,” Pritchett said. “Our goal today was to come out and execute on both ends of the floor and get better, and I feel we accomplished that.”
MCC shot 47.1 percent from the field, made eight of 21 shots from the 3-point arc (38.1 percent) and went 11-for-12 from the free throw line (91.7 percent).
The Lady Indians won the rebound battle 37-16 and turned the ball over 13 times.
The all-stars shot 34.1 percent from the field, made five of 10 3-point shots and went 12 of 19 (63.2 percent) from the line.
Sophomore Gemma Gruettner Bacoul (Berlin, Germany) led all scorers with 24 points and picked up six rebounds and six assists. She made nine of 17 shots, including two-for-three from the 3-point line and four-for-four at the free-throw line.
“Gemma had another effective game shooting the ball, and just an all-around game where she filled up the stat sheet for us,” said Pritchett.
Madara Liepniece (freshman, Riga, Latvia) scored 17 points, going three-for-seven from the 3-point line with six assists, and sophomore Suzan Sisman (Aarhus, Denmark) scored 12 points.
“We had two starters out with injuries today and both Madara and Sue stepped up big for us,” said Pritchett. “Sue has been great on the defensive end. Madara made a couple late shot-clock 3s and one after the first quarter that was called back. Those are big shots and hopefully a confidence boost for her.”
Sophomore starters Noa Iglesias Chorda (Barcelona, Spain) and Ebba Zalamans (Stockhom, Sweden) both scored eight points with Zalamans leading the Lady Indians with seven rebounds.
Rebecca Dunn (sophomore, Colorado Springs, Colo.) came off the bench with eight points and six rebounds.
MCC improves to 3-2 on the season. Next up for the Lady Indians is a pair of games next weekend in the Iowa Western Community College Classic in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Both teams are rated in the top 10 of the NJCAA Division II rankings.
“We have a tough weekend ahead of that we'll prepare for this week,” said Pritchett. “Right now we'll enjoy this 2-0 weekend trip.”
On Friday MCC plays No. 10 North Central Missouri College at 1 p.m. followed on Saturday with a 3 p.m. game against No. 7 Iowa Western.
Up-to-date information about MCC basketball including schedules, statistics, rosters and photos can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com.
