MCC Women to face NJC Saturday in first round of post-season
The McCook Community College women's basketball team with start post-season play Saturday against a team they faced to end the regular-season Monday – Northeastern Junior College.
The women, under Coach Brandon Pritchett, won the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference title going 5-1, but in Region IX south play the team went 4-6 (12-18 overall) and ended up with the fifth seed out of six teams.
At the regular season finale Monday, MCC lost 70-69 in overtime to NJC which put the two teams in a tie for fourth place, but the Plainswomen held the tiebreaker over MCC and now the two teams will play again in Sterling, Colo. for a play-in game at 4 p.m. (MT).
In Monday's game MCC missed 10 free throws, turned the ball over 18 times and shot 20 percent from the 3-point line and Pritchett would like to see a better showing in all those categories.
In their first matchup of the season in Sterling, Colo. on Feb. 4, MCC won 76-72. After getting outscored 16-2 to start that game, MCC came back to tie the game at the end of the third quarter, executed offensively and hit free throws down the stretch.
"It should be a good game as our two prior games were close this season," said Pritchett. "It has been a tight series ever since I've been on the women's side with them."
MCC began the season facing a tough schedule with a relatively young squad. MCC went 1-6 to start the season and fell to 2-10 before winning two of its final December games to finish at 4-11 in the first half of the season. The squad didn't start the 2023 portion of the schedule much better, losing three of its first four games, falling to 5-14.
After a 74-66 loss to North Platte on Jan. 24, MCC won six straight games, then lost four of five to end the season.
MCC was fifth among the six teams in the south in offense, scoring an average of 60.2 points per game. MCC shoots 39.3 percent from the field which is second in the south. From the 3-point line shot 27.2 percent (fifth in the south) but Pritchett's squad led all teams in free throw percentage, shooting 73.2 percent. That is 10th best in the nation among 169 Division 1 schools.
MCC was second in the Region IX south division in defensive scoring, allowing 64.5 points per game but last among the six teams in rebounding, 34.8.
Sophomore Vanessa Jurewicz (Stockholm, Sweden) leads MCC and is second among Region IX south players in scoring, averaging 15.2 points per game.
Redshirt freshman Taryn Lindsey (Fountain, Colo.) is second on the team and fifth in the south scoring 12.4 points per game. The 5-5 guard also led the team in rebounding with 4.5 per game. She is shooting 85.3 percent from the free-throw line, eighth best in the nation. She made 139 out of 163 free throws on the season.
A trio of freshmen accounted for 21.1 points per game. They included Gemma Gruettner Bacoul (Berlin, Germany) at 7.3 points per game, Natalie Harmata, (Sydney, Australia) with 7.0 points and 3.9 boards per game and Marta Moya Perez (Alboraya, Spain) chipping in 6.8 and 3.8 rebounds a game.
The Plainswomen are led in scoring by guards Seneya Martizez, who averages 13.9 points per game and Dalys McGuinnis, who averages 10.0 points a game. NJC was able to get 17 offensive board in their first meeting with MCC, and on earlier this week held a 37-27 rebound edge. MCC turned the ball over 17 times on Monday and 16 times in their first meeting.
"Offensively for us we have to limit our turnovers and execute better," said Pritchett. "They packed it in on us defensively, so we have to do a better job with screening and our cuts to create better opportunities for us within our offense."
A win Saturday would put MCC into the second round March 9 against the top seed in the north, Casper College (10-0, 27-3), ranks 15th in the nation. The next stage of the tournament shifts to Scottsbluff where top seed Western Nebraska will host the remaining games over three days March 9-11.
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
FINAL SOUTH STANDINGS
W - L PCT. (OVERALL)
Western Neb. 9 – 1 .889 (21-8)
Otero JC 8 – 2 .800 (19-6)
Trinidad State 5 – 5 .500 (11-16)
Northeastern 4 – 6 .400 (10-18)
McCook CC 4 – 6 .400 (12-18)
Lamar 0 – 10 .000 (7-21)
REGION IX TOURNAMENT
SATURDAY PLAY-IN GAMES
SOUTH DIVISION
McCook CC at Northeastern Junior College, 4 p.m. (MT)
Lamar CC at Trinidad State, TBA
NORTH DIVISION
Central Wyoming at Laramie County CC, TBA
Eastern Wyoming at Western Wyoming, TBA