Women's Basketball Tops Northwest College for First Conference Win this Season
On Tuesday, January 28, Central Wyoming College faced off against the Northwest College Trappers in Riverton, Wyoming. It was a matchup of teams who were equally hungry for a Region IX win, with their combined conference records totaling out to 1-7.
The Rustlers spared no time lighting up the scoreboard against their opponent, and took a commanding nine point halftime lead after outscoring the Trappers in each of the first two quarters behind. Esperanza Vergara's constant exchange of her season-high six made three pointers helped stave off the Trappers in the second half, and Natalia Ballin piled on 17 points of her own to pack some power to CWC's offensive punch. Tiffany Tervort had a team-high 10 rebounds and led the Rustlers to dominate NWC on the glass, 39-33. Central Wyoming had a firm grip on the game in the final minutes, and pulled out an exciting 76-69 victory over NWC to secure their first Region IX win and improve to 1-4 in conference play.
CWC did their best to carry the fire over from Tuesday night's game into their matchup Thursday on the road against Gillette College, but ultimately lost some of their heat. They struggled to get their footing and slipped behind early in the first half, ceding a 11 score deficit by the break. Despite Laura Ring almost notching a double double with 13 points and nine rebounds, and Natalija Tintor scoring a season-high 11 points, the Rustlers struggled on the offensive end. Outside of Ring and Tintor, they scored 31 points on 26% shooting. And even with an almost identical field goal percentage as their opponent, CWC's foul trouble hurt them down the stretch and the Pronghorns attempted 24 total free throws, compared to Central Wyoming's seven. Gillette remained victorious in the end and handed CWC their fifth conference loss of the season.
The Rustlers return home this week for two home games, hosting Laramie County Community College on Friday, February 7 at 5:30pm. They then turn around and play Eastern Wyoming College Saturday afternoon at 2pm in the Rustler Gymnasium.