Lady Indians win home-opener in a thriller

The McCook Community College women’s basketball team came from 10 points down in the second half to hold off Frank Phillips College Saturday to open the season with a 78-75 win.

 

Trailing 39-32 at halftime, MCC outscored the Plainswomen 22-18 in the third quarter and 24-18 in the fourth quarter in a game that featured five ties and 13 lead changes. MCC held a 72-64 lead with 3:07 left in the game and was able to ice the game away with free throws.

 

Sophomore Nevaeh Lucero (Thornton, Colo.) hit all four of her free throw attempts in the final 21.8 seconds of the game to help secure the win.

 

“We go over these late-game scenarios in practice, but we adjusted some things and got the ball into Nevah’s hands late in the game and she made four big-time free throws and she also made a ton of big-time shots, because she creates really well,” said MCC Coach Brandon Pritchett. “So, it’s good to see her back on the floor and healthy.”

 

Lucero had shoulder surgery in May and didn’t join the team on the practice floor until Oct. 1. She scored a team-high 16 points with a six-for-nine showing from the field along with her four free throws and four rebounds.

 

It took a while for the Lady Indians’ offense to get going, scoring just seven points in the first seven minutes of the game.  

 

“We came out a little sluggish in that first quarter,” said Pritchett. “We had trouble shooting and didn’t score very much.”

 

Sophomore starting post Stephanie Nnabuihe (Newbridge, Ireland) left the game in the first quarter with an ankle and didn’t return, but down 17-7 with 2:34 left in the first quarter, the Lady Indians had an answer.

 

From that point in the game MCC scored the final four points of the first period to trail 17-11. FPC outscored MCC 22-21 in the second quarter and held 39-32 at the half.

 

The Plainswomen began their season Friday afternoon in North Platte with an 88-63 win over the Knights

 

“We challenged our girls in the locker room at half-time being down by seven and they came out and executed and played our kind of basketball in the second half.

 

It took MCC about seven minutes into the second half to catch up and take the lead when freshman Anastasia Labelle-Piskor (Saint Amand Les, Easux, France) hit a bucket to put MCC up 52-50.

 

“A lot of people stepped up today with Stephanie going down,” said Pritchett.

 

Sophomore Claudia Serrador Cortazar (Trapagaran, Spain) came off the bench score 14 points and grab six rebounds. Freshman Iraia Aduriz Marquez (Barcelona, Spain) had to play out of position a few times at post and had a team-high seven rebounds to go along with eight points.

 

Decatur Community High School freshman Brylee Minnick took her turn in the post and hit an old-fashioned 3-point play in the fourth quarter to ignite the MCC bench. Freshman Tracey Senga (Paris, France) hit two of her 3-point attempts and finished with six points.

 

 “Brylee Minnick came in and had a nice layup and finish on an “and-one” and she hit the free-throw. Tracy came in and sparked us, Iraia played some in the post and Claudia had a stellar game for us,” said Pritchett. “And that was big for us because Frank Phillips has two athletic forwards and I thought we responded well.”

 

The Plainswomen were led in scoring by Jane Dusabe with 26 points and 18 from Kennedi Ward.

 

In addition to Lucero and Cortazar, MCC had two other players in double figures with 15 points from Labelle-Piskor, who made four of nine 3-pointers, and 10 points from sophomore Mar Molina Munoz (Parets del Valles, Spain).

 

“Other than the first quarter we did a nice job of shooting overall, shooting the 3 but not from the free-throw line,” said Pritchett. “Our last fall scrimmage we went 0-for-five from the line, so I guess this is an improvement.

 

MCC shot 47.5 percent from the field, made 10 of 26 from the 3-point line (38.5 percent) and 10 of 20 free throws (50 percent). MCC outrebounded FPC 43-29, committed 21 turnovers and had seven steals.

 

Frank Phillips College shot 38.8 percent from the field, made 10 of 25 shots from distance (40 percent) and made 13 of 15 free throws (86.7 percent). The Plainswomen had 11 steals and 19 turnovers

 

“We have a lot to clean up before Monday, but I’m proud of this group for fighting for their first win,” said Pritchett.

 

The Lady Indians will travel to Liberal, Kan. Monday to play Seward County Community College.

 

Up-to-date information about MCC basketball including up-to-date schedule and changes, livestream links for home games, rosters, photos, statistics and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com