Jan. 15, 2008

Final Stats

It was a rough two games for the Northeastern Junior College Plainswomen, and although there were a lot of questions on how the team would perform, there was little doubt about their effort.

In a tough trip to Wyoming last week, the women turned in a split against Casper College and Sheridan College.

Their record stands strong at 14-3, entering competition with Eastern Wyoming today at 5:30 p.m., at the Bank of Colorado Event Center.

With the game against Sheridan College, NJC was out in control throughout the half, shooting well, and playing good enough on defense to lead 41-24 at halftime.

NJC would finish the game with 10 steals on the evening, more than double their opponent.

Sheridan College came out in the second half simply on fire, shooting 68 percent from the field. Sheridan needed 53 points to overcome the Plainswomen hot start to earn a 87-81 victory.

Leading the way for Northeastern Friday night was freshman Stacy Howard with 19 points and seven rebounds. Jessica Priest also had a good game, going for 18 points. Sophomore Kristen Forbes finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

Saturday night the team went against Casper College, a team they split the regular season with, and lost to in the Region IX Tournament a season ago.

Round 1 went to the Plainswomen, as they squeezed out a 44-41 victory in their house.

Last year, one of Casper's victories against NJC was one that saw the Plainswomen up at halftime. This time their halftime lead would not be handed to them.

Northeastern was up 23-21 and held on in the second half, taking the three-point win.

Both teams shot below par, with Casper shooting 25 percent, while NJC shot 36.

The only player to score double-figures for the Plainswomen was sophomore Sarah Conner, who nearly had a triple-double. Conner finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the win.

Howard finished with eight points, followed by Priest with seven.

Northeastern will begin a string of four home games in a row and five of their next six on their home court. They begin tonight when the team plays Eastern Wyoming at 5:30 p.m.