Gillette College women's head coach Will Rider and assistant Adam Jacobson sat on the bench for the longest time after the players had gone to the locker room trailing by 14 points at halftime in Wednesday night's Region IX game.The first-half numbers in the Pronghorns' game against Western Wyoming Community College looked about as dismal as the score. Yet Rider and Jacobson talked among themselves as they looked over the stat sheet and finally went into the locker room with just under 10 minutes left in the intermission.
Whatever they came up with was the ticket. But it wasn't quite enough to fend off the Mustangs in a 70-66 loss, which was the Pronghorns' first loss in regional action.
Freshman Christina Davis hit a 3-pointer to finally tie a one-sided game at 62-62 with 1:48 left. Gillette got it close, erasing a 14-point first-half deficit.
But that lasted about five seconds. Western Wyoming guard Jordan Giles made a 3-point shot from the top of the circle and matched Davis' trey with one of her own and the Mustangs (12-1, 3-1 in Region IX), who have won nine of their last 10 games, would stay just out of reach to steal one on the road.
"That's the difference in having a sophomore in that position. She wasn't afraid to take the shot," said Rider, who was back after serving a one-game suspension. "We actually wanted her driving to the basket in the end, but what was happening was that our bigs would collapse to defend and she'd get the dump off for the easy basket. We won the second half, it was just too big a mountain to climb,"
Western Wyoming had four players in double figures, led by Alissa Willard's 16 points and 16 rebounds. Gillette College (9-7, 2-1) was led by Iesha Greer, who finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kim Caywood, a 5-foot-9 freshman who played at Tongue River High School, came off the bench to score 13 points, including consecutive baskets in the Pronghorn's 8-2 run to tie it.
"We did not handle their run well at all. They really came back on us, but the difference down the stretch was our ability to execute, and of course our free throws," Western Wyoming coach Ken Swartz said.
The Pronghorns, who have won eight of their last 10 games, lost their first Region IX game of the season. Gillette travels to Little Big Horn on the Crow Reservation in Montana on Saturday. They play Central Wyoming College in Riverton on Jan. 18 and host sixth-ranked Casper College on Jan. 21.


Western Wyoming 70, Gillette College 66
WESTERN WYOMING (12-1 overall, 3-1 in Region IX): Scoring: Shelby Rudd 3-7 6-6 12, Jordan Giles 3-8 4-6 11, Dani Hardy 5-9 2-6 13, Alissa Willard 4-19 8-10 16, Ashley Argyle 4-11 0-0 8, Shanna Halalili 0-4 2-2 2, Shayanne Halalilo 1-2 0-0 3, Chelsa Sorensen 2-5 1-1 5. Totals 22-65 23-31 70.

GILLETTE COLLEGE (9-7, 2-1): Scoring: Iesha Greer 4-13 6-8 14, Jordan Scott-Benson 1-3 0-0 2, Alex Ward 1-5 0-0 3, Jordyn Croft 1-2 0-0 2, Elisha Hensey 4-14 6-10 14, Christina Davis 1-9 0-0 3, Jessica Davis 2-5 0-0 6, Anastasia Champlin 0-4 0-0 0, Kim Caywood 5-7 3-4 13, Diarra Carrington 0-2 0-0 0, Kenosha Wright 3-7 3-4 9. Totals 22-17 18-26 66.

Halftime score: Western Wyoming 39-25.

3-point goals: Western Wyoming 3-14 (Giles 1-2, Hardy 1-2 S. Halalilo 1-2), Gillette 4-18 (Greer 0-2, Ward 1-2, Hensey 0-1, C. Davis 1-3, J. Davis 2-5, Champlin 0-4, Carrington 0-1). Rebounds: Western Wyoming 42 (Williard 16), Gillette 59 Greer 10). Assists: Western Wyoming 13 (Rudd, 4, Giles 4), Gillette 13 (Hensey 8). Fouls: Western Wyoming 23, Gillette 19. Fouled out: Willard.

By Rod Harwood, News Record sports writer
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