TORRINGTON – The Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) Lady Lancers came up short in a pair of home conference games against Casper College and Western Wyoming Community College (WWCC) over the weekend.

On Friday, January 31, the Lady Lancers battled back in the second half against Casper College in an effort close a 49-25 halftime lead by the Lady Thunderbirds but ultimately fell, 82-66.

EWC controlled the scoreboard against WWCC on Saturday for the first three quarters before the Lady Mustangs pulled up to overtake EWC by one possession at the final buzzer, 70-67.

Casper College

The Lady Thunderbirds came out in the first quarter to outscore EWC, 29-9. The Lady Lancers found their footing offensively in the second quarter with 16 points but still trailed Casper College in scoring with Casper tallying 20.

Casper College led at halftime, 66-50.

The Lady Lancers fought to turn the tables in the third quarter by outmaneuvering Casper College, 25-17, and reducing the Lady Thunderbirds’ lead to 16 points, 66-50, at the beginning of the final quarter.

Both teams collected 16 points in a neck-and-neck fourth quarter.

Sophomore Nikolina Vukcevic led the Lady Lancers in scoring against Casper College with 15 points. Fellow sophomore Leamsi Acuna and freshman Yaiza Paredes also tallied double-digit scoring with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Freshman Ariadna Martinez contributed nine points, sophomore Boden Liljedahl seven, sophomore Aliya Tripp five and freshman Rhia Saggar three.

On the boards, Martinez pulled down eight rebounds and Tripp seven. 

WWCC

EWC left it all on the court in an explosive first quarter that saw the Lady Lancers net 17 points while holding WWCC to nine.

WWCC responded in the second quarter to top EWC in scoring by one possession, 16-14.

The Lady Lancers retained the lead by six points at halftime, 31-25.

WWCC nearly closed the deficit in the third quarter with the Lady Mustangs outscoring EWC, 25-20.

The fourth quarter opened with EWC leading by a single point, 51-50.

A back-and-forth battle for control of the scoreboard ensued in the final 10 minutes of regulation with EWC ultimately coming up short.

Five Lady Lancers posted double digit scoring against WWNCC, led by Vukcevic with 14 points. Paredes tallied 13 points, Acuna and Tripp 12 apiece and Martinez 10. Liljedahl collected six points.

Martinez and Paredes both went double-double against WWCC with 10 rebounds each.

Acuna passed the ball for five assists while Paredes snapped up three steals.