CWC “tipped-off” their 2024 season with a pair of home games in Rustler Gymnasium on Friday and Saturday of this past week. The Hampton Inn Tip-Off Classic was hosted by CWC and brought in three visiting teams: Salt Lake Community College, Fort Hays Tech Northwest, and Western Nebraska Community College. The Rustlers were in for a difficult first match, as they were slated to take on the 25th NJCAA Division I ranked SLCC Bruins Friday night.
Personal fouls were the name of this game, with both teams combining to commit 53 total. Although CWC did a better job of converting their free throws (73.3% vs SLCC’s 64.3%), the Bruin’s unrelenting full-court press also had a major role in this matchup, heavily skewing the turnover battle, 9-27 in SLCC’s favor. The persistent pressure allowed SLCC to jump out to a 41-19 lead going into halftime, and Central Wyoming struggled to keep pace with the Bruins in the second half as well, eventually surrendering a final score of 95-41. Esperanza Vergara was the lone double digit scorer for the Rustlers, chipping in 14 points.
Saturday afternoon’s game against Western Nebraska Community College presented another opportunity for Central Wyoming to prove themselves against a full-court press team. Right away the Rustlers struggled to break through WNCC’s press, and repetitive turnovers resulted in points for the Cougars as they exploded to a 45-15 lead by the end of the second quarter. Whatever adjustments Central Wyoming made during halftime flipped the script for the Rustlers, who went on to outscore Western Nebraska in the third quarter 22-18, influenced by a hot streak from Laura Ring and a couple three pointers from Katie Walker. Despite this second half surge from CWC, Western Nebraska had six of their eight players score in the double digits, and bested the Rustlers with a final score of 92-47.
Volleyball
The Central Wyoming Volleyball had two road games this past week that were decisive in determining if the Rustlers would qualify for the Region IX tournament. The top four teams from Region IX North division would be granted a berth to the Region IX Tournament. At the beginning of last week, CWC was in a three-way tie for third place in the Region IX North standings with Laramie County Community College and Casper College. Best case scenario for the Rustlers was to win both of their games on Tuesday and Friday, and they’d clinch third place in the division. And that’s exactly what the CWC Volleyball team did in both of their last regular season conference games of the season.
The Northwest College Trappers posed the greater challenge for the Rustlers, taking their Tuesday match in Powell to five sets. The Rustlers had ice in their veins, and remained cool, calm and collected throughout the match. The usual suspects, Khloe Hobson and Presley Ryan, led the offensive stampede for Central Wyoming, and each recorded double digit kills. Laina Whitney and Rachel Workman put their hardhats on and went to work as well and contributed eight and nine kills each. Ultimately, the Rustlers put away Northwest College in five sets and took one step closer to punching their Region IX playoff ticket.
CWC’s offense was like a hot knife through butter in Friday’s regular season finale against Gillette College. Outside of a hiccup in the third set where Gillette stole a 25-27 win, It was evident Central Wyoming was dead set on their mission of making it to the Region IX playoffs, outscoring Gillette 75-45 in all of the other sets.
The Central Wyoming Volleyball team now turns their sights to their first round matchup of the Region IX tournament, which takes place this Wednesday at Laramie County Community College’s gym against Western Nebraska CC.
Men’s Basketball
The Central Wyoming men’s basketball team opened up their 2024 campaign this past weekend in Rock Springs, Wyoming. Pat Rafferty began his second stint as the head coach of the CWC men’s basketball program this summer, returning back to the college he had held the same title from 2013-2017.
The Rustlers were tasked with taking down Region 18 opponent Utah State University-Eastern in their first non-conference game of the season. Both teams seemed to be shaking off the rust and figuring out team dynamics, combined with struggles in field goal efficiency, made for a low-scoring game. Central Wyoming experienced the greater shooting woes, converting on only 13 of their 42 total attempted shots. USU Eastern took advantage of a slow first half start from CWC, and carried a 28-20 lead into halftime. The scoring output was almost identical in the second half, and USU Eastern held on in the final minutes to hand the Rustlers their first loss of the season, 55-45.
CWC was quick to right the boat in their Saturday afternoon matchup after Friday’s frustrating loss. Lamar Community College was on the menu, and the Rustlers were ready to sink their teeth in. A pair of Australian natives Jordan Peel and Hunter Trego were taking turns making it rain, as they combined to shoot 70% from three point range and totaled 43 points. Dominic McLawrence almost notched his first double-double of the season by pulling down nine boards and chipping in 13 points. Isaac Patik was the fourth Rustler to reach double digit points in this game, racking up 16 on 50% shooting. A back and forth brawl resulted in a 76-76 tie in regulation, but Central Wyoming activated its clutch gene and knocked down key free throws in overtime to pull out a 85-78 win.
On the Schedule this Week:
- Volleyball
- Wednesday, Nov. 6th– Region IX Tournament vs WNCC @ 1pm @ Cheyenne, WY
- Thurs-Sat, Nov. 7th-9th– Region IX Tournament @ Cheyenne, WY
- Women’s Basketball
- Friday, Nov. 8th– HOME vs Claredon @ 5:30pm
- Saturday, Nov. 9th– HOME vs Treasure Valley CC @ 2pm
- Men’s Basketball
- Friday, Nov. 8th– HOME vs SLCC @ 7:30pm
- Saturday, Nov. 9th– HOME vs Utah Rebels @ 4pm