MCC Women claim NCCAC title with 78-49 win over Central

COLUMBUS – The McCook Community College women clinched the Nebraska Community College championship outright Monday with a 78-49 win over Central Community College.

"It's a great feeling to win our conference but we have work to put in this week to prepare for a big region road trip this weekend," said MCC Coach Brandon Pritchett.

MCC closes out the NCCAC schedule with a 5-1 mark and now focuses on the Region IX South Standings where they hope to climb into second place over the next week with three region games remaining on the schedule.

The Lady Raiders played MCC tough in the first 10 minutes with both teams tied at 15 at the end of the first quarter, but MCC outscored Central 19-5 in the second quarter and took a 14-point lead at intermission.

"I thought we really defended at all five positions tonight," said Pritchett. "We executed our game plan on both ends extremely well."

Central went 27.1 percent from the field, made four of 19 3-pointers (19 percent) and made 19 of 30 free throws (63.3 percent).

MCC shot 57.1 percent from the field, made four of 10 shots from the 3-point line, and made 10 of 12 free throws (83.3 percent). MCC outrebounded Central 39-23.

"This was our best rebounding game on the defensive end," Pritchett said.

MCC had four players in double-figures with freshman Gemma Gruettner Bacoul (Berlin, Germany) leading the way with 18 points.

"We took team shots on the offensive end which led to balance scoring," said Pritchett. "We have several options on this team and I'm proud of how we played together."

Redshirt freshman Taryn Lindsey, (Fountain, Colo.) added 17 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Sophomore Vanessa Jurewicz (Stockholm, Sweden) scored 17 points, had five assists and six steals. Freshman Marta Moya Perez (Alboraya, Spain) chipped in 10 points off the bench and had six boards.

Central goes to 14-13 overall and 2-3 in the Nebraska conference with a game left against Southeast Community College.

On Friday MCC (12-15 overall) returns to the Region IX schedule traveling to La Junta for a game against Otero Junior College (17-6) at 6 p.m. CST, followed on Saturday with a game at Trinidad State (10-16) at 3 p.m. CST). On Monday (Feb. 28) MCC will close out the schedule with a home game against Northeastern Junior College (8-17).

Western Nebraska has claimed the Region IX South title and will host the post-season tournament. The second-place team in the south will also advance to the second round of the tournament. Otero holds down the second spot in the south standings at 6-2, MCC is third at 4-3, Trinidad is fourth at 4-5, NJC fifth at 3-5 and Lamar sixth at 1-9.

For all the up-to-date information on MCC women's basketball this season and all sports including schedules, statistics, rosters and photos, please visit the official website of MCC Athletics at mccindians.com

NEBRASKA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

ATHLETIC CONFERENCE STANDINGS

                             W - L     PCT.

McCook CC             5 – 1     .833

Southeast CC          3 – 2     .600

Central CC              2 – 3     .400

North Platte           1 – 5      .167

RESULTS

Nov. 22 – MCC 67, Central 61 (at McCook)

Jan. 21 – Southeast CC 88, Central 47 (at Beatrice)

Jan. 24 – North Platte 77 MCC 65 (at North Platte)

Jan. 27 – Southeast CC 73, North Platte 69 (at Beatrice)

Jan. 29 – MCC 74, Southeast 66 (at Beatrice)

Feb. 3 – Central CC 60, North Platte 50 (at North Platte)

Feb. 7 – MCC 59, Southeast CC 52 (at McCook)

Feb. 11 – Southeast CC 69 at North Platte 54 (at North Platte)

Feb. 15 – MCC 64, North Platte 54 (at McCook)

Feb. 17 –Central CC 57, North Platte 50 (at Columbus)

Feb. 20 – MCC 78, Central CC 49(Columbus)

REMAINING SCHEDULE

Feb. 25 – Southeast CC at Central (Columbus), 5:30 p.m.