The 2014 season came to a close for the Laramie Lady Plainsmen, as they lost in the first round of the 4A East Regional Basketball Tournament to Cheyenne Central, 39-31, Thursday in Cheyenne.

With the loss, the Lady Plainsmen were eliminated from post-season and failed to qualify for the state tournament for the first time since 2009.

Laramie led 17-16 at half and scored the first basket of the third quarter. That gave the Lady Plainsmen their biggest lead of the contest. Then, Laramie's shooting went ice cold. They scored just two more points in the third and started the second half 1-20 on field goals.

Central held a 26-21 edge going into the fourth. The Lady Indians extended their lead to 30-21 with the first four points of the period. Laramie quickly got two baskets to trim it to 30-25, but that's as close as the Lady Plainsmen got. Free throws down the stretch sealed the Central eight-point victory and berth to the 4A State Tournament.

Lady Plainsmen head coach Kyle Stucky said,

"The kids gave it all they had; tremendous effort. Everybody that stepped on the floor, I thought gave us a great effort. The bottom line is we just couldn't make a basket. We were boarding up; offensively I thought we did a good job crashing the boards, but at the end of the day you've got to make shots, and we didn't make shots."

Laramie shot 21 percent from the floor in the game, but struggled even more in the second half. They went 5-31 on field goal attempts, which equates to 16 percent. LHS was only 1-15 from beyond the arc in the game, as well. Even though the Lady Plainsmen enjoyed a 39-31 edge on the glass, which included 21 offensive rebounds, they couldn't overcome the poor shooting performance.

Senior Jacqui Pulley led LHS with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Seniors Joey Harris and Caitlan Hensley added six points apiece. Harris grabbed 11 rebounds.

Central was led by Erin McIntyre and Madi Stumpf. They each scored seven points. A big key for the Lady Indians was their effort at the free throw line. They went 14-18 at the stripe.

Laramie concluded their first season under Kyle Stucky with a 9-15 overall record.

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