Laramie Holds Off Green River, 56-50
Laramie (1-1) earned their first win of the season and first for new head coach Nick Darling.
The Lady Plainsmen rallied from an early six-point deficit, took the lead for good in the second quarter, and held off the Wolves in the final minutes of the fourth period.
Darling said, in a bit of a subdued voice, “I’m pretty pumped,” then laughed.
“I knew how we could play, so I was just excited that they came together and did what I asked them to do, to be honest with you. It was pretty fun.”
Behind three 3-pointers from Kayde Strauss, Green River (0-1) built a 15-9 lead.
Laramie came roaring back with a 20-6 run that bridged the end of the first and start of the second quarter. LHS had a 29-21 lead, but that was trimmed to 31-28 at halftime.
Both teams struggled on offense in the third, as neither shot well. Both were 25 percent or worse from the floor. It was 39-35 Laramie, as the game entered the final quarter.
Strauss made her fifth 3-pointer of the game that tied it at 46-46 with just 4:30 left in the game. Two free throws by Vasquez kept LHS in front, and they held on for the six-point victory.
Darling added it was about sticking together on defense in the final frame.
“Staying with what we worked on, and what I thought was going to work the best. They were moving really well and seeing the passing lanes. We were making them just shoot three’s. No offense to them, at all. They (Green River) can shoot three’s, but any team, if you make them shoot just three’s, and they get no buckets inside, that’s a really big deal, man. Percentage-wise, we’re going to do really well this year if that’s the case.”
The Wolves were 3-18 from beyond the arc in the second half after going 5-9 in the first half.
Darling also said another key was keeping it loose with the team down the stretch.
“Just telling them they’re doing a good job, or telling them they do knucklehead plays, and I think it’s funny, and it doesn’t matter, we’ll just move on from there, just keep working together, and we’ll be alright.”
Vasquez had seven points and three big rebounds in the final quarter. Morgann Jensen added 14 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Kylee Cox contributed 14 points. Laramie shot 44 percent for the game. They were 16-29 at the free-throw line.
Strauss scored a game-high 22 points, while Megan Counts added 10 points and 18 rebounds for Green River. The Wolves shot 32 percent from the field. They went 8-27, 29.6 percent, from deep, and also had a 41-38 edge in rebounding.
Laramie returns to action on Friday, Dec. 18, when they play Jackson in a neutral site game in Green River at 1 p.m. They will have their Senior Day on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 3 p.m. versus Newcastle.