SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. -  The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team have been going hard in practices since the official practice date of October 1. During the past two weeks of practice, the Cougars have had two away scrimmages as they get ready for their season opener on Halloween night.
Scottsbluff graduate Ruth Lively , one of nine newcomers on the squad this year, said the team has been working hard to get ready for the coming season.
“I think they’ve been really good. The transfer over with everything that we’ve learned into games, I think has been really good and every single practice, we get a little bit better at our plays and our transitioning,” Lively said. “I think we’re all really learning to be together more and year, it practices have been good.”
The Cougar women had a JUCO Jamboree in Denver and scrimmaged the University of Nebraska Kearney on Monday. Those scrimmages helped the team know what they need to work on. They will have a scrimmage in Lawrence, Kansas, this weekend at the Dave Neely Showcase.
Lively said they definitely utilized the scrimmages to get better.
“I think we’ve definitely improved on our defense as a whole,” she said. “From the first scrimmage that we played, it was still a little rocky and we didn’t really know exactly where to go. I think that this last scrimmage we played against Kearney, it was way better and we scrambled a lot better and I think that really helped us against them.”
The Cougars men and women will have a Cougar Madness to introduce the basketball teams while having some fun competitions. Cougar Madness will be held Wednesday, October 22 at 6:30 p.m. in Cougar Palace as part of the college’s homecoming events.
Then, the Cougar women and men will open the season on Halloween with the Cougar Classic. The Cougar men will open against Dodge City Community College at 3 p.m. followed by two women’s games starting with Salt Lake and Dodge City battling at 5 p.m. followed by the Cougars taking on Colorado Northwestern at 7 p.m. There will be three games on November 1 of the Cougar Classic with the women facing Salt Lake Community College at 3 p.m.
Lively said they are working hard for the start of the season, which is two weeks away.
“I think we’re still working to be ready to go,” she said. “but ,I think we’re ready for the season to start.”
The Cougar women return just one player from last year’s team in Zozefine Sipolina, the guard from Latvia. After Sipolina, there are nine freshmen. Lively is one of them. Lively is a 5-8 guard/forward from Scottsbluff High. The Cougars also have 6-0 Brynn Sybrant from Casper Natrona High.
Lively said the college practices have more one-on-one instruction and she hasn’t had a problem moving from Scottsbluff high to the college game.
“It’s been very similar. A lot of coaching is similar in the plays that we run,” Lively said of moving up from high school to college. “So, that’s been really helpful. But I feel like here it’s been a lot more one-on-one and I’ve definitely been able to grow as a player.”
Other newcomers include Juseane-Rae Delatori from Lhaina, Hawaii, Charisma Johnson, a 5-7 guard from Portland, Oregon; Aniaya Burton-Hernandez, a 6-0 guard from Harlam, New York; and Veralyn Aviles, a 5-7 guard from Brooklyn, New York.
The international players include 5-8 Dunja Stojanovic of Serbia who went to Archbishop Riodan High in California; 6-2 Celina Donyo of Swedan; and 5-7 Ella Chesta-Carty of Antibes, France.