TORRINGTON – The Eastern Wyoming College Lady Lancers picked up a pair of wins over McCook Community College and North Platte Community College over the weekend.
On Friday, the Lady Lancers survived a 90-84 overtime thriller against the McCook Lady Indians.
McCook dropped 31 first-quarter points on EWC, leaving the Lady Lancers to dig out of an early deficit.
“McCook came out and took it right to us,” EWC head coach Tom Andersen said. “We battled back the whole game.”
A late bucket at the end of the third quarter gave Eastern Wyoming a 55-54 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Indians managed to tie the game at 72 in the final quarter of play to send the game into the extra period.
“We had a little bit of a lead in the fourth, but they came back and tied it up to get it to overtime,” Andersen said. “We got an early lead and held on in overtime.”
EWC outscored McCook 18-12 in overtime to secure the win.
Abril Rexach Roure led the Lady Lancers with 24 points, while Ines Salat Margarit added 18. Emily Buchanan tallied 11, while Macie Mackey tossed in 10.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Andersen said. “We were fortunate to get the win.”
The next day, the Lady Lancers used a 11-0 first-quarter run to keep the North Platte Knights at bay in a 79-59 victory.
Trailing 10-6 midway through the first quarter, Buchanan dropped the first of her team-high 24 points to draw the Lady Lancers back within two.
The bucket sparked a run, giving EWC a 17-10 lead late in the opening quarter.
The Lady Lancer advantage grew to as many as 10 in the second quarter, and North Platte hung around not allowing the lead to grow much larger than that.
However, in the third quarter, Buchanan connected on three consecutive 3-pointers, pushing the EWC lead to 15 – the largest of the game.
“We were struggling to score a little bit, and she got hot in the third quarter,” Anderson said. “It gave us a little bit of a burst of energy. Anytime the ball starts going into the hoop, it gets everyone going.”
North Platte managed to cut back into the deficit again, cutting it to as few as six before the Lady Lancers pulled away, outscoring the Lady Knights 25-12 in the final quarter.
“You have to give North Platte a lot of credit. They came in and played hard,” Andersen said. “They gave us some problems. Fortunately, we made some things happen to stretch it out at the end.”
In addition to Buchanan’s 24, three other late EWC players ended the game in double-figures. Margarit added 13, while Nicole Cutler tossed in 12. Barbara Trehub chipped in 10.
The Lady Lancers (4-0) travel to the Otero (Colo.) Junior College tournament this weekend. On Friday, EWC will open against Northwest Kansas Tech at 1 p.m. and will play Williston State College at 1 p.m. Saturday.
