Lady Indians lose 50-48 to Ranger College

HOBBS, N.M. – The McCook Community College women’s basketball team dropped an opening-day game Friday in the first day of the New Mexico Junior College Classic. The Lady Indians lost 50-48 to Ranger College 50-48.

Ranger College stretched ahead after three quarters to 38-35 and took an eight-point lead, 47-39 with 4:53 left to play before MCC chipped away. Sophomore Laia Izquierdo Altimira (Barcelona, Spain) hit a 3-pointer with 44 seconds left in the game to cut the deficit to 49-48. After a Ranger free-throw with .02 seconds left to play, Altimira was able to get off a 3-point shot at the buzzer but in fell short.

“We just didn't come ready to play and Ranger competed harder than us on both ends tonight,” said MCC Coach Brandon Pritchett.

MCC jumped out to an 11-2 lead at the with 4:10 left in the first quarter but the Rangers scored a pair of baskets in the final 30 seconds of the quarter to cut the deficit to 13-11.

“We got out to an early lead and went into chill mode,” said Pritchett. “And that's disappointing given how we've been playing over the last couple weeks.”

The team from Ranger, Texas took its first lead two minutes into the second quarter with a 3-pointer to go up 18-15 and nudged the lead to 25-18 with 4:49 left in the half but MCC went on a 8-3 run to close the gap to

28-26 at intermission.

Ranger shot 46.5 percent from the field, made three of 12 triples (25 percent) and went seven-for-19 from the free-throw line (36.8 percent.) The Rangers held a 34-32 rebound edge.

The Lady Indians shot 28.3 percent from the field, made five of 19 3-pointers (26.3 percent) and made nine of 10 free throws. MCC also had 16 assists in the game. 

“We missed a ton of shot at the basket tonight, probably 12 or so point-blank layups,” said Pritchett. “We did share the ball well tonight and we made free throws when we got to the line.”

Johanna Gerlach (sophomore, Hachborn, Germany) led MCC with 17 points.

“Jojo made some nice plays for us” said Pritchett. “She defended well and created several turnovers.”

Altimira scored 12 points with five rebounds and a team-best six assists. Freshman Mar Molina Munoz (Parets del Valles, Spain) had seven points and five assists while freshman Nevaeh Lucero (Thornton, Colo.) scored five points off the bench.

Sophomore Miriam Wahlqvist (Helsingborg, Sweden) led MCC with 11 rebounds to go along with four points and freshman Claudia Serrador Cortazar (Trapagaran, Spain) had five boards.

Ranger College improves to 4-7.

MCC falls to 6-8. The Lady Indians conclude the trip with a 3 p.m. game against No. 10 New Mexico Junior College (11-1). The Thunderbirds beat Northeastern Junior College Friday morning, 87-76.

“Tomorrow we have to defend better and we have to finish plays,” said Pritchett.

MCC has one final game before Christmas break, and it will be Tuesday at home with a 4 p.m. tipoff in the Peter and Dolores Graff against Gillette College (8-4).

Up-to-date information about MCC women’s basketball including livestream links for home games, schedule, statistics, rosters, photos and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com