Plainswomen Defeat Mustangs; Fall to Badgers

            In the second game of the Casper Pizza Hut Invitational, the NJC Plainswomen met the Lady Mustangs from Western Wyoming.  In the first quarter, NJC jumped out to a 20 to 14 lead behind the hot shooting of Kiara McElroy who hit three – three pointers in the opening frame.  McElroy's streak continued in the second quarter as she hit three more three pointers.  At half time, Kiara had 21 points.  NJC led at half time 39 to 29.

            In the second half, NJC continued to hold a ten point advantage, but could not lengthen it beyond that.  In the fourth quarter, Western Wyoming climbed back into the game and took a lead with three minutes remaining in the game.  Tashika Burrell answered with a three pointer of her own that gave the Plainswomen the lead back.  NJC then hit free throws down the stretch to hold on for the 79 to 77 win.

            NJC was led in scoring by sophomore Kiara McElroy who totaled 25 points.  Katie Diakhaby followed in scoring with 16 points and 14 rebounds.  Darci Finnigan scored 12 points and collected 11 rebounds.  Rounding out the scoring was Tashika Burrell with 13 points, Taylor Knudson with 7 points, Kirsten Regennitter with 3 points, Callie Dickerson with 2 points, and Asia Turner with 1 point.  NJC held a 46 to 36 rebounding advantage for the game. 

In the third and final game of the invite, the Plainswomen would face a tough Snow College.  The ladies had just came off a good win the night before and were looking to keep it rolling into their third game.  The Plainswomen needed to put together a full four quarters if they wanted to come away victorious.

In the first quarter, the Badgers would take a three point lead over the Plainswomen 16-13, which was alright because they knew there was a lot more time left in the game for them to get on a roll.  In the second quarter, NJC would still be in in by only trailing Snow 33-28. 

The Plainswomen have had a tendency of coming out in the second half very slow and allowing their opponents get a healthy lead over them.  This game would be no different, as the Badgers would outscore the Plainswomen 15.  Northeastern would only score nine points in the third, which would ultimately be their demise for this game.  The final quarter of the game, the women played a much more solid half by scoring 15 to their 23, but the deed had already been done and lost the game 80-52.

The Plainswomen will be at York College on November 27 and then back home to play Air Force Prep on the 29.