Central traveled to Rock Springs, WY to compete at Western Wyoming, but would come home with a loss.  CWC shot 39% overall and hit 12 3's on 43% from behind the arc but a plague of first-half turnovers lit the way for Western Wyoming as the Rustlers fell 75-51. With eight lead changes in the first half, the Rustlers were only down by two at the end of one, 18-16. Late in the 2nd quarter, the turnovers began to rack up as Western Wyoming pulled away 41-27 going into the locker rooms for the break. 

 

The Rustlers could not get hot from inside the arc, going 7-21 from 2FG, most of which were inside the paint. The Rustlers were also cold from the FT line only finishing 1-6 from the charity stripe. "Ultimately, handling pressure buried us tonight. With our lack of size and experience at the PG position, we allowed their full-court pressure to overwhelm us. When you give teams extra possessions due to effort and focus, it really takes its toll and Western Wyoming took advantage of our turnovers," stated Coach Westmoreland. The Rustlers committed 34 turnovers (21 in the first half) which WWCC scored 20 points off of. 

 

Freshman Melanie Garcia led the way for the Rustlers going 50% from 3FG for 15 points on the night, all from behind the arc.  Sophomore Kalista Niu followed up with 12 points and 5 rebounds.  Freshman Criselle Mendoza found her shooting again tonight going 3 for 7 from behind the arc for 9 points and 4 assists.  Sophomore Ivana Bijic finished with 6 points and 7 rebounds.  Freshman Kamya Jones finished with 5 rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes of action, while freshman post Hadyn Collie pulled down 7 rebounds

 

The Lady Rustlers will be back in action Saturday in Powell, Wyoming at 2pm to take on Northwest College in conference play.