Casper College Women Win Region IX Title

Two free throws from Natalia Otkhmezuri with 3 seconds to go enabled the Casper College women's basketball team to defeat 2nd ranked Western Nebraska 66-64 to win the Region IX championship at the Erickson Gym. In what turned out to be an excellent basketball game, these long time rivals battled it out toe to toe but the T-Birds outscored the Cougars 20-14 in the 4th quarter to prevail.

Otkhmezuri had 14 points on the night and Mya Jones also had 14 as the Thunderbirds shot just 35% from the floor. They were 6-20 from the 3 point line and 14-21 from the free-throw line. Western Nebraska shot 37% from the floor but made just 4, 3 pointers out of 24 attempts. Casper College is 29-3 on the year and ranked 14th in the country. They'll advance to the National Junior College Tournament in Lubbock, Texas later this month. The T-Birds last went to nationals in 2018.