MCC women start slow, finish strong in 71-62 win at Highland

HIGHLAND, Kan. – The McCook Community College women overcame a slow start once again but turned it around to take down Highland Community College on the road Tuesday 71-62.

The Scotties got off to a 7-2 start in the first 3:08, doubled the lead at 16-8 with 3:40 left in the first period and finished off the first 10 minutes up 25-16. HCC hit five of eight 3-pointers in the quarter and shot 58.8 percent from the field overall in the quarter.

Highland scored the first five points of the quarter to lead 30-16 at the 9:01 mark before MCC reversed the trend and chipped away the double-digit lead. The Scotties hit a free throw at the 6:11 mark to go up 33-21 but MCC took charge of the game going on a 13-0 run to close out the quarter and take a 34-33 lead. Sophomore Vanessa Jurewicz (Stockholm, Sweden) led the way offensively with 13 points in the quarter.

 "It was another slow start for us but we started to figure things out earlier this time," said MCC Coach Brandon Pritchett, whose team has made a habit out of slow starts, including a 21-point halftime deficit Saturday at Laramie County, which MCC came back to win.

The coach attributed Tuesday's second quarter comeback to getting the ball into the paint and getting to the foul line.

"And we did a better job closing out and contesting the 3s," he said. The Scotties went three of 10 from the field and just one of seven from distance in the second quarter.

MCC continued the momentum with a 21-14 edge in the third period and a 16-15 edge in the final quarter.

Jurewicz, led all scorers with 22 points including a six-for-six showing at the line. Sophomore Carla Torrubia Cano (Melilla, Spain) scored 15 points, went two-for-two from the 3-point line and three-for-three at the line.

"Carla was really efficient tonight shooting the ball and getting good shots," Pritchett said.

Maite Lara Garcia (Sant Joan Despi, Spain) scored 15 points and tied for the team lead with eight rebounds. Alyssa Van Vleet (Oberlin, Kan.) went two-for-six from distance, scored nine points and had five rebounds Sophomore Sonia Sato (El Paso, Texas) came on for eight points and eight rebounds, including six in the second half.

"I thought Sonia had a great second half defensively and rebounding for us, something I challenged her to be was be a more consistent player for us and she stepped up," Pritchett said.

MCC shot 48.2 percent from the field, sank four of 13 3-pointers (30.8 percent) and went 13 of 18 from the line (72.2 percent). MCC had 17 turnovers and 32 rebounds including nine on the offensive end.

 Highland had 34 boards, shot 35.5 percent from the field, 34.9 percent on nine of 26 made 3-pointers, and nine of 14 from the free-throw line (64.3 percent). The Scotties fall to 7-4 on the season

"It was a great way to finish the semester and our eight-game road stretch," Pritchett said.

MCC went 4-4 in road games between Nov. 19-Dec. 7 with two of those losses to top 10 ranked teams.

"This wasn't an easy slate of games and to finish with two wins at the end with all the injuries and illness we've had, I'm really proud of the toughness we showed," Pritchett said.

MCC finishes out the semester 7-6 and will resume play at home Jan. 8 hosting Central Community College at 2 p.m.