he Eastern Wyoming College men's basketball team tuned up nicely for the Region IX tournament, which they will host beginning Saturday, with a strong defensive effort in knocking off Highway 26 rival Western Nebraska Community College 71-61.

The WNCC women also tuned up nicely for the regional tournament with a stellar defensive effort in the second half to run past the Lancer women 79-40 Wednesday evening at Torrington, Wyo.

For the Cougar and Lancer women, they will do battle in the first round of the Region IX tournament Saturday at 10 a.m. in Miles City, Mont.

First, though, the Lancer women will wrap up their season with a home contest against Lamar Community College.

The WNCC women stretched their win streak to nine games and Cougar coach Dave Harnish said they are peaking at the right time.

"It was nice to get that 13-point lead at halftime and then we played much better defensively in the second half, which caused easy buckets for us," he said. "We have a very deep bench.

"I am really proud of this team more so then a lot of teams then I had.

We struggled early in the year and we weren't a very good team and the last month of the season they really responded well. They executed well.

They played hard and practiced hard. They certainly have to be very proud of what they accomplished and how they turned the corner to be a very good team. To be 26-4 is a great year. It will be nice to win a regional championship, but if we don't you can't take away the season that we had. The kids responded well and did everything we asked for the last month and it has shown on the floor and hopefully we can carry that into the regional tournament."

The Cougars and Lancers were hooked in a barnburner early as WNCC zipped to a 7-0 lead and led 10-1 on an Emma Beddome bucket. EWC fought back tying the game at 14 on a Shiela Reece 3-pointer with eight minutes to play in the half.

That was when the Cougars went on a tear, outscoring the Lancers 19-6, including two 3-pointers by Carly Glisan and Chelsea Lyles to take a 33-20 lead into the locker room.

WNCC continued their offensive and defensive intensity in the second half scoring the first 15 points to forge ahead 48-20 on a Tawny Drexler old-fashioned 3-point play. The Lancers finally got on the scoreboard on a Reece bucket but never could solve the Cougars defensive pressure.

EWC coach Tom Andersen said the Cougars cause too many miss-matches for his squad.

"We did get a slow start and then did play pretty well midway in the first half and got ourselves some opportunities to score," he said.

"Right after that we gave them some pretty easy baskets. It is a game where you will struggle to score against them because they are so good defensively that you can't afford to give up easy ones on the other end.

The Cougars had five players hit the double figure column. Lyles led the way with a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Glisan and Alison Cheney with 11, and SeLina Ysac and Cheri Palmer with 10 points each.

The Lancers were led by Reece, Jessica Martinez and Skye Smith all with eight points each.

The difference in the game was bench scoring as WNCC outscored EWC 41-10, as well as out-rebounding them 48-22.

The EWC men also put up the same kind of defensive effort against the Cougar men, especially off the bench, where the Lancers outscored the Cougars 27-7. The other difference in the game was shooting, where the Lancers shot 48 percent from the field compared to 39 percent for the Cougars.

The big key, though, came in the final six minutes of the first half.

WNCC just took the lead at 18-17 on a Jamie Eisinger bucket off a pass from his brother Drew. After that, EWC's Casey Robinson drained three 3-pointers and the Lancers went on a 21-7 lead to take a 38-25 lead into the locker room.

WNCC came out of the locker room with plenty of fire as they sliced away at the 13-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 45 on a Chris Hamblin bucket with 11:41 to play. The Cougars couldn't forge ahead, though, as the Lancers refocused and outscored the Cougars 26-16 to get the 10-point win.

EWC coach Casey Jones said those two runs were crucial to his team getting the win.

"The kids refocused after they tied the game. We went to a little bit of a zone because Western Nebraska's dribble penetration really hurt us. We stopped them on a few possessions and got the momentum back and took care of the defensive glass, limiting them to one shot."

WNCC coach Brian Joyce was proud of his team for fighting through adversity and staying in the game. There were 47 fouls in the game, 25 going the way of the Cougars. EWC also shot well from the free throw line, connecting on 22-of-32 while the Cougars were 16-of-27.

"I thought we got a little bit tired because our depth was a factor because a couple guys hurt and some guys were in foul trouble," Joyce said. "But I was proud of our guys for responding and putting us in a position in the second half. Unfortunately, we had too many turnovers the first half that led to easy baskets and when you get behind on a good team like that, it is hard to come back."

EWC was led in scoring by Robinson with 22 points, including three 3-pointers and 10-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe. George Williams also hit the double figure scoring with 10 points.

The Cougars had three players in double figures. Daniel Smith led the way with 20 points, followed by Drew Eisinger with 13 and Kelvin Franklin with 12.

Both teams will now head into the Region IX tournament in Torrington.

The Lancers first round game will be Saturday at 8 p.m. when they face McCook Community College, while the Cougar men will face Casper College Sunday at 1 p.m.

Women's Game

WNCC 33 46 - 79

EWC 20 20 - 40

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Cheri Palmer 10, Emma Beddome 4, Michelle Lighthall 2, SeLina Ysac 10, Shaquilah Davis 8, Alison Cheney 11, Tawny Drexler 4, Jenna Colwell 7, Chelsea Lyles 12, Carly Glisan 11.

EASTERN WYOMING

Shealynn Wells 2, Stacie Folkers 6, Jessica Martinez 8, Candace Mitchell 2, Sheila Reece 8, Skye Smith 8, Jaqi Bell 6.

Men's Game

WNCC 24 37 - 61

EWC 38 33 - 71

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Jamie Eisinger 4, Daniel Smith 20, Kelvin Franklin 13, Lloyd Hickinson 3, Drew Eisinger 13, Deividas Busma 3, Chris Hamblin 6.

EASTERN WYOMING

Chris Daniels 6, Dane Hill 3, Edsel Vila 5, Leo Morris 6, Arunas Simanavicius 2, Scotty McRae 8, Jordon Johnson 6, George Williams 10, Caleb Moore 4, Casey Robinson 21.