Knights charge by Panthers

North Platte, Neb. – The North Platte Community College women's basketball team returned home to take on York College on Monday evening. North Platte surged from the start easily capitalizing on early offensive possessions to cruise to a 96-42 victory.

"It was a great team win tonight," said head coach Jeff Thurman. "We had every one of our student-athletes step up and contribute, but now we must get prepared for two tough games on the road this weekend."

The Knights offensive surged out of the gate opening a 6-0 lead as a steal by Janay Brauer turned into a quick layup in transition. The Panthers connected on a long range three on their next possession to cut the deficit to three with 7:18 remaining in the opening quarter.

North Platte extended their lead to eight on a stop and pop jumper by Madison Heinzen shortly before the first media timeout to push their lead to eight, 12-4. Out of the break, York managed to cut the deficit to five before the Knights responded with a transition three by Isa Valenzuela, 17-9. Knights continued their offensive attack and extended their lead back to eight at the end of the first quarter on a three by Brauer, 22-14.     

York trimmed the deficit down to six in the early minutes of the second quarter, before North Platte responded by pushing their lead to thirteen as Kayla Pope got her contested layup to fall in the lane, 29-16. The Knights continued their lockdown defensive in the second quarter, limiting the Panthers to just five more points on the offensive end, while extending their lead to twenty at the halftime break, 41-21.

Into the third quarter, the Knights lead grew to eighteen as a steal by Jordyn Moon turned into a transition layup for Tahmeya King with 8:21 remaining in the quarter. North Platte extended their lead to twenty-one as Oakley Butler found Avery Johnson in transition for the open layup, 55-24.

Panthers went on a short 6-0 run over the next two minutes, before the Valenzuela halted the momentum on a three from the left wing, 58-30. York outscored the Knights over the remaining minutes, but North Platte ended the quarter with a twenty-seven-point advantage, 60-33.

The Knights offense boomed in the fourth quarter outscoring the Panthers 36-9 over the final ten minutes. A quick 12-0 run to open the quarter lifted the lead to thirty-nine with 7:20 to play in regulation, 72-33. Panthers and Knights traded baskets over the next few minutes before another 10-0 run by the Knights, capped off by Johnson going one-of-two at the free throw line pushed the lead to forty-nine with 3:01 to play.

North Platte went to the bench often in the game but in the closing minutes the Knights deep bench shined, limiting the Panthers to just five points as the Knights earned their fourth win of the season.    

Diamond Moore-Heath led all scorers with 21 points and seven rebounds in just seventeen minutes of action. Fumnaya Ijeh (14), Kayla Pope (13), and Johnson (10) rounded out the Knights double-digit scorers on the evening.

North Platte (4-1) now hits the true road portion of their 2021-2022 schedule travelling to Marshalltown, Iowa for the Emerson Classic. Knights will open the tournament with host Marshalltown Community College on Friday, November 19 at 5pm.