Laramie Lady Plainsmen Move on to Semifinals at State Basketball

The Laramie Lady Plainsmen picked up a first round victory at the state basketball tournament with a 49-35 win over Kelly Walsh at Casper College on Thursday night.

Ragen Wilson got things going for the Lady Plainsmen with an old-fashioned 3-point play followed by a 4-point play that gave Laramie a 7-2 lead. Kelly Walsh crashed the boards like crazy, but LHS was able to hold onto a 12-9 lead after the first quarter. An error on Laramie's roster in the official scorebook led to a technical foul and the Lady Trojans began the quarter by hitting 1-of-2 free throws. Shortly after Lauren Schiller hit a trey that gave Kelly Walsh a 13-12 lead.

Katie Kuhn stepped up for Laramie and hit back-to-back threes to spark the Lady Plainsmen on an 11-1 run to close out the half with LHS up 23-14. Kuhn then began the second half with another set of back-to-back threes.

"When she's get's hot, it's pretty. I know once she gets hot, she's gonna keep hitting them," said Laramie Head Coach Rod Tyson about the play he got from his junior point guard.

The Lady Plainsman dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Trojans 13-4 to head into the fourth quarter with a 36-18 lead. The fourth quarter began with Coach Tyson utilizing five players off the bench with Tessie Holmes, Olivia Crum, Kyrie Anderson, Jacque Pulley and Jamie Rhodine which gave valuable rest to the starting five. A couple of Schiller three's would keep Laramie from running away with the game, but Kelly Walsh was never able to pull in close down the stretch.

Laramie (21-4) was led by Katie Kuhn with 12 points and Wilson with 10. The Lady Plainsmen shot 34 percent (15/44) from the floor, 32 percent (7/20) from beyond the arc, and 63 percent (12/19) from the foul line. LHS was out-rebounded by KW 30-26 but the Lady Plainsmen made up for it by forcing 25 turnovers while committing only 12. The boost from the bench resulted in 14 of Laramie points and 11 boards.

"I thought that second group came in and did really well," said Coach Tyson. "We have a lot of people that always come in and pick us up."

Kelly Walsh was led by Schiller with 16 points. The Lady Trojans hit 34 percent (10-29) of their shots from the field, 50 percent (6/12) from three, and 47 percent (9/19) from the free throw line. Kelly Walsh will play Sheridan on Friday in the consolation bracket.

Laramie is 2-0 against semifinal foe Evanston this season, including a meeting in December in which the Red Devils were held scoreless until the 3:34 mark in the third quarter. Evanston made their way out of the first round with a gritty 46-39 win over Sheridan on Thursday.

Looking ahead to the semifinal game, Coach Tyson said, "Evanston played really tough today, they're probably going play tough tomorrow. We just have to come out and hopefully play sharper than we did tonight."

The game is set to tip at 6 p.m. Friday night at the Casper Events Center as they hope to continue the success they experienced at the Regional Tournament. Coverage will begin on KOWB at 5:30 p.m.