LAJUNTA, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball scored 31 fourth-quarter points to come back to down Otero College 85-76 in a South Sub-region contest Saturday afternoon in LaJunta, Colorado.
The win keeps the Cougars undefeated in the conference race at 5-0 and moves them to 15-6 overall. WNCC is the only unbeaten team in either the South or North Sub-region.
The Cougars look to stay perfect when they travel to McCook Community College on Wednesday. McCook is 4-1 in the conference and 10-10 overall. After that, the Cougars return home for a Sunday, February 1 contest against North Platte Community College in another conference tilt.
WNCC shot 37 percent from the field in the win and connected on 10 3-pointers. Otero was 39 percent from the field and made just five 3-pointers.
Ella Chesta-Carty led the Cougars with 29 points, including six 3-pointers. Veralyn Aviles tallied 19 points on a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. Zozefine Sipolina also had double digits with 13 points and three 3-pointers.
Saturday's game with Otero was a mixed bag for the Cougars. WNCC started the contest well in the first quarter as they built an 18-6 lead and led 24-15 after the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter was an offensive show as the two teams combined for 45 points. Otero won the quarter 25-20, and it all started as the Rattlers scored the first seven points of the quarter. Sipolina stopped the run with a trey. WNCC led 33-29 on a Chesta-Carty 3-pointer. That was when Otero scored the next six points to take their first lead of the game at 35-33 with 3:30 to play in the half.
WNCC closed out the half on an 11-5 run that saw the Cougars score the final four points of the quarter on buckets by Aniaya Burton-Hernandez and Chesta-Carty for the 44-40 halftime lead.
The third quarter saw the Cougars' shooting percentage take a dive as the Rattlers outscored WNCC 24-10 to lead 64-54. WNCC led early in the quarter at 46-42. That was when Otero went on an 11-0 run that saw them lead 53-46. WNCC came back with an 8-2 run to trail 55-54 on 3-pointers by Sipolina and Juseana-Rae Delatori. Otero closed out the third on a 9-0 run.
The fourth quarter saw the two teams exchange buckets for the first two minutes or so as Otero led 70-59. WNCC started a comeback, going on a 16-0 run over the next five minutes to grab a 75-70 lead. Chesta-Carty buried two 3-pointers during that run. Otero topped the run with just over a minute to play to make it 75-72, but Chesta-Carty hit back-to-back 3-pointers for an 81-74 lead with just under a minute to play. Aviles and Chesta-Carty sealed the win with clutch free throws in the final 30 seconds.
WNCC (15-6) 24 20 10 31 – 85
Otero (3-15) 15 25 24 12 – 76
WNCC
Ella Chesta-Carty 29, Veralyn Aviles 19, Zozefine Sipolina 13, Charisma Johnson 8, Aniaya Burton-Hernandez 7, Juseana-Rae Delatori 5, Celina Donyo 4.
OTERO
Kaelani Albert-Nena 22, Itxasne Fernandez Arguello 19, Karsyn Shanan 12, Candela Roy Ibalbarriaga 10, Dayshanay Bruner 5, Brooklyn Kalser 4, Haley Lang 4.