These were two different games in that Western was a high paced, high scoring game and Casper was a lot more of a grit and toughness game.”

Coach Tim Larsen

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EWC opens the NJCAA Region IX tournament with a first-round game against Northwest College in Powell on Saturday, March 8 at 2 p.m.

ROCK SPRINGS – The regular season concluded for the Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) Lady Lancers with two intense, point-for-point battles against conference rivals Western Wyoming Community College (WWCC) and Casper College over the weekend.

On Friday, February 28, the Lady Lancers came up short against WWCC on the road, 95-81.

EWC squared off against Casper College on Saturday at the Thunderbird Gym. The Lady Lancers trailed the Lady Thunderbirds by only a few possessions, 35-28, at halftime, before Casper College pulled ahead in the third and fourth quarters to win, 80-66.

“These were a couple of tough-fought games for us,” coach Tim Larsen said. “Western and Casper are both really good teams and I thought we did a good job of competing all the way down to the wire. They were two different games in that Western was a high paced, high scoring game and Casper was a lot more of a grit and toughness game. I liked how we played in both. We just needed some timely stops in each game that we couldn’t get. They have elite shot makers and they shined in the biggest moments but we made it tough on them.”

EWC opens the NJCAA Region IX tournament with a first-round game against Northwest College in Powell on Saturday, March 8 at 2 p.m. The Lady Lancers ended the regular season with a 4-8 conference record and 14-16 overall record.

WWCC

The first half between EWC and WWCC on Friday proved close, with the Lady Mustangs leading by two possessions, 27-22, at the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Lancers netted 24 points to 26 by WWCC in a high scoring second quarter but the Lady Mustangs remained ahead, 53-46, at halftime.

WWCC won the third quarter, 31-20, and went on to outscore EWC by four points in the fourth, 15-11.

Three Lady Lancers scored double digits against WWCC, led by sophomore Nikolina Vukcevic with 21 points. Sophomore Leamsi Acuna netted 17 points with freshman Yaiza Paredes tallying 16.

Sophomores Aliya Tripp and Boden Liljedahl both collected nine points, freshman Rhia Saggar five and freshman Ariadna Martinez four.

Saggar led on the boards with five rebounds while Vukcevic pulled down four. Vukcevic and Tripp both delivered two assists while Acuna, Martinez, Vukcevic and Paredes each grabbed one steal.

Casper College

Casper College pulled up in the first quarter by six points, 22-16.

EWC netted 12 points in the second quarter while holding Casper College to 13.

A high scoring third quarter saw the Lady Lancers tally 18 points to 21 by Casper College.

The Lady Thunderbirds outmaneuvered EWC in the fourth quarter by two possessions, 24-20.

Martinez paced the Lady Lancers offense in scoring against Casper College with 10 points. Paredes and sophomore Josephine Vourliotis both contributed nine points, Acuna and Liljedahl eight apiece, sophomore Tawny Rodriguez seven, Vukcevic six, Tripp five and Saggar four.

On the boards, Martinez, Paredes, Saggar and Rodriguez each pulled down five rebounds.

Acuna and Paredes both passed the ball for three assists and Paredes and Liljedahl each wrangled one steal.