Lady Buccaneers Struggle in First Game in Border Wars Tournament
In their first matchup of the 1st Annual Gillette Border Wars Tournament, Dawson found themselves a bit helpless against a strong, well-balanced Casper program. Casper defeated Dawson 86-61.
Despite outrebounding a tall and athletic Casper team 37-33, the Lady Bucs had trouble scoring the ball. DCC freshman impact player Hailee Brandon led the game with 29 points, along with 10 rebounds and 5 steals, but was blemished with 11 turnovers. Brandon shot 63% from the field; but unfortunately, most of her teammates were not able to contribute well in the scoring column. Brianna Bergum scored 11 points, but only one made basket from the field. Bergum did shoot 100% from the foul line going a perfect 9-9.
Casper’s bench outscored the Lady Bucs 35-10, scored more points in the paint 42-24, had the advantage in 2nd chance points 15-8, and converted 35 points off turnovers. There was some light in the 2nd and 4th quarters for Dawson, where the score difference was 2 and 3 points respectively, but the wounds were too deep. Dawson committed 29 turnovers in the game.
DCC Coach Romeo Lagmay shared his thoughts, “The object of the game is to score, and when our team can’t put the ball in the basket and cherish possessions, then it’s going to be a long night. I was proud to see Hailee prove she can score against the best, but it would have been better to see some other players step up during a game like this. Casper is a nationally respected program, and a team has to bring it during that competition. My hope is that we bounce back and learn that we have to be consistent in every game.”
Dawson will look to redeem themselves when they face Western Wyoming Community College in their last matchup of the tournament at 1:30 pm Sunday afternoon.
