MILES CITY, Mont. – The Eastern Wyoming College Lady Lancers went 1-1 over the weekend in a tournament hosted by Miles Community College.

Miles 98, EWC 61

EWC came out of the gates slow Friday against their first opponent, host Miles Community College. The Lady Pioneers outscored the Lady Lancers 20-3 in the first frame and 32-16 in the second frame to hold a 52-19 lead at halftime. Coming out of the break, EWC put up one more point than Miles in the third quarter (27-26), but the visitors again were outscored in the fourth, 20-15, falling by a score of 98-61.

Pamela Bethel was the only Lady Lancers in double-figures, racking up 11 points on the night. She finished with a double-double, rounding out her stat sheet with 12 rebounds, an assist and a steal. Fellow starter Lauren O’Connell just missed the double-digit mark in scoring, pouring in nine points of her own, all of which came from behind the arc. She chipped in three assists for the Lady Lancers, which was second on the team.

Ines Salat Margarit came off the bench to chip in eight points, three rebounds, all of which were offensive, and three assists. Macie Mackey led the way in assists, with four, while also contributing five points, seven boards and three steals. Abril Rexach Roure and Nicole Cutler rounded out the starting five, combining for 10 points, two rebounds and an assist.

Emily Buchanan was the second leading scorer off the bench for EWC, racking up six points, which she paired with four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Morning Gambler and Kelliann Raff combined for 10 points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal off the bench.

EWC 69, Williston State 57

The Lady Lancers rebounded Saturday to pick up a win over Williston State College 69-57, ending a two-game skid.

EWC was the one to come out hot Saturday in the low-scoring affair, rushing out to a 16-6 lead after the first 10 minutes of action. In the second quarter, the Lady Lancers held their opponents to single digits (nine points), while putting up 20 of their own to hold a 36-15 advantage at intermission.

Returning to the court, Williston State looked to be coming back with a vengeance, outscoring EWC in the third quarter 26-19. In the fourth, the Lady Lancers were outscored 16-14, but it was not enough to make up the difference, giving EWC the 69-57 win.

Four Lady Lancers scored in double figures, again led by Bethel who racked up 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting. She narrowly missed out on snagging her fifth double-double on the young season, tallying nine rebounds, two steals and a block in the win.

Margarit turned in 12 points, six boards, three assists and a steal. O-Connell and Cutler accounted for 11 points apiece. Cutler was busy at the free-throw line, shooting 5-of-6. Cutler and O’Connell each had five rebounds, while O’Connell added two assists to her stat line.

Cathlyn Knutson came off the bench and poured in eight points and had three rebounds and two assists. Buchanan was active on the boards, finishing the game with eight rebounds, six points, an assist and two steals, all while coming off the bench

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EWC 86, CWC 79

EWC returned to its home floor for its second home game of the season, taking on Central Wyoming College on Monday. The Lady Lancers and Lady Rustlers traded blows to open the game, with EWC taking an initial 9-8 lead. A three-pointer by O’Connell at the buzzer gave the Lady Lancers a 24-20 lead at the end of the first quarter. EWC kept CWC at bay to open the second quarter and continued to add to its lead, holding a 47-36 advantage at intermission.

Coming out of the break, the Lady Rustlers started clicking on offense. They crept back into the game, pulling in to within two points of the Lady Lancers with less than three minutes to go in the third, but the home team expanded their lead to 62-54 with a quarter to go.

“They made a couple runs at us. We’re not as good when we don’t have Bethel in the game for rebounding and a real threat of the offensive end,” coach Tom Anderson said. “Sometimes we struggle scoring and rebounding and you saw that tonight that let them hang in there.”

CWC continued to claw away at the lead, bringing the score to within seven multiple times in the final 10 minutes of action, but the Lady Lancers closed the door on an 86-79 win.

Bethel notched another double-double on the night, tallying 14 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and a steal. She was pinned with five fouls on the game, ending her game early.

“We can isolate her against somebody and she is pretty darn tough one-on-one, especially if she gets out on the perimeter a little bit,” Anderson said. “She is real aggressive on defense and rebounding.”

O’Connell was the top scorer for the Lady Lancers, pouring in 34 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field, including four shots knocked down from behind the arc. She also had an assist in the win.

Margarit turned in 17 points and Rexach chipped in 13 of her own. The duo also combined for three rebounds and four assists. Buchanan was second on the team in boards, with five on the night, while also accounting for four points.

“I like the way she is progressing,” Anderson said of Buchanan, a Southeast product. “She’s got a lot of energy. She hustles and works really hard. She is undersized sometimes but works really hard on the boards and makes some things happen.”

The Lady Lancers are now sitting with a 4-4 record. They return to action this weekend in a tournament in Sheridan. EWC plays Williston State again on Friday at 12 p.m. and Rocky Mountain JV on Saturday at 12 p.m.

“The biggest thing for us is we have to continue to work to get better,” Anderson said. “We’ve got a lot of young kids and potential, but defensively we really have to get better. We gave up a lot of so-called easy baskets around the rim… we have to get better on defense in order for us to get better all the way around.”