STERLING, CO – The LCCC Golden Eagles (2-1, 0-0) used a 12-0 first-quarter run to build a lead on the Northeastern Plainswomen (0-1, 0-0) and never looked back, winning their second consecutive game, 80-67 at the Bank of Colorado Event Center on Tuesday night.
After falling behind early, the Golden Eagles erased the small first-quarter deficit by racing out to a 12-0 run fueled by an Anna Terron (Tarragona, Spain) three-pointer. NJC was able to cut into the Golden Eagles' 14-5 lead with a 7-0 run before Ximena Gutierrez (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) ended an almost four-minute scoring drought with a layup.
Sam Hester (Saratoga Springs, Utah) scored eight of her team-high 21 points in the first quarter, hitting a pair from the three-point line, as the Golden Eagles led the Plainswomen 22-16 after the first.
Hester hit another three, this time to start the second quarter as the Golden Eagles produced yet another run, starting the second quarter with a 7-0 run on a Kaysen Hobbs (Fort Collins, Colo.) 12-foot jumper in the lane. LCCC opened up its' largest lead of the game at 11 points and would lead by 11 points on three separate occasions in the quarter, finishing the half with a nine-point advantage at 35-26.
The second-quarter was the lowest-scoring quarter of the game for LCCC, scoring just 13 points. The Golden Eagles' defense stepped up, allowing just 10 points in the frame.
Abby Garreaud (Magna, Utah) scored four points in the quarter and finished the game with 10 points.
NJC opened the second half on a 10-4 run before Hester knocked down her fourth three of the game to stop the run. LCCC's defense continued to put pressure on the Plainswomen as Gutierrez stole a pass and found Lucia Fleta (Tenerife, Spain) for the easy layup, pushing the lead back up to 55-44.
Fleta finished the game with 10 points, matching her career-high set in the previous game against North Platte.
Ariadna Bleda (Barcelona, Spain) dropped in a layup to give LCCC its' largest lead of the game at 57-44. Bleda scored a career-high 16 points with 12 coming in the second half.
The Golden Eagles' 24 third-quarter points was the largest scoring output for a quarter this season.
Hester would yet again open a quarter with a three-pointer, starting the fourth with her fifth three of the game. Hester's five threes matched a career-high set on February 12, 2020, against Western Wyoming.
LCCC continued to answer NJC's fourth-quarter runs, securing the 80-67 win, the Golden Eagles' second straight.
Gutierrez finished with eight points, with six of those points coming in the second half. Terron finished with seven points. Carla Aguilar (Barcelona, Spain) ended the evening with six points.
The Golden Eagles will head to La Junta, Colo on Saturday for a match-up with Otero at 2:00 pm.