Golden Eagles hold off late run to defeat Knights

Cheyenne, Wyo. – North Platte Community College women's basketball team opened their weekend with a road trip to Laramie County Community College on Friday night. Much like the opening weekend of the season the teams battled back and forth, but this time the Golden Eagles prevailed as each team took their respective home game and split the regular season series.

"The better team won tonight," said head coach Jeff Thurman. "They were more aggressive, but we must learn from this game and be better moving forward"

Defenses were strong in the opening minutes of the first quarter, as only one bucket was scored in the opening five minutes. A stop and pop mid-range jumper by Diamond Moore-Heath gave the Knights their first points and tied the game back up, 2-2.

On their next possession, Kayla Pope gave North Platte their first lead of the game after receiving the pass on the perimeter and cutting through the Golden Eagles defense for the layup, 4-2. Knights extended their lead to five as a flurry of passes found Pope on the right wing for an open three, 7-2. Laramie County responded with a 9-3 run over the closing minutes of the quarter to take a one-point lead into the quarter break, 10-11.

The Golden Eagles lead grew to four in the opening minutes of the second quarter, before Pope found Moore-Heath cutting baseline for the open layup. Knights kept the deficit at one possession over the next three minutes, before recapturing the lead on a Janay Brauer three from the right wing with 3:30 to play in the second quarter, 21-20.

The Knights lead grew to four as Brauer connected on another deep three, before the Golden Eagles closed the quarter on a 6-2 run to take a one-point lead into the halftime break, 26-27.

Laramie County opened the third quarter with a free throw line jumper to extend their lead to three, 26-29. Jada Ballard cut the deficit down to two after earning a trip to the free throw line and connecting on one-of-two free throw attempts with 8:55 to play in the quarter, 27-29.

The Golden Eagles pushed their lead to five before the Knights again cut the deficit down to two with 7:04 to play in the third quarter on a layup by Moore-Heath, 30-32. Laramie County answered the basket with a 7-0 run over the next 1:25 to extend their lead to nine.

Knights again went back to work on the offensive end and cut the deficit down to four inside the final four minutes of the quarter. The Golden Eagles answered and mounted the momentum needed to extend their lead back to nine by the end of the third quarter, 39-48.

Jordyn Moon attempted to spark the Knights in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, connecting on a stop and pop jumper to cut the deficit down to seven. Laramie County answered the jumper with a layup of their own before a short 5-1 run by the Golden Eagles pushed their lead to thirteen with 4:45 to play.

North Platte attempted to switch the momentum with their own run over the next two minutes but only managed to cut the Golden Eagles lead to six after a Brauer straightaway three, 49-55. Laramie County outscored the Knights 5-4 over the closing minutes to hold off the road hungry Knights.

Brauer led North Platte in scoring tallying 14 points on 5-of-18 shooting. Moon was the top rebounder for the Knights grabbing seven rebounds to accompany her four steals and two assists.

Knights (8-3) end their seven-game road trip with the Lancers of Eastern Wyoming College on Saturday afternoon in Torrington. Tip is set for 3pm inside the Eastern Wyoming College Gymnasium. Knights won the first meeting of the season against the Lancers back on November 6, 70-67.