Hot shooting propels No. 17 North Central Missouri to win over Knights

Trenton, Mo. – Janay Brauer matched her career-high 24 points, but it was not enough to lift the Knights past No. 17 North Central Missouri College on Saturday afternoon, 94-80.

"It was a tough day defensively for us," said head coach Jeff Thurman. "We are not going to win games giving up 94 points."

North Central Missouri opened the scoring and never trailed in the contest, as the Pirates offense shot 62 percent from the floor. The Pirates jumped out to a twelve-point lead midway through the opening quarter, as a steal off a Knights inbound turned into a quick jumper for Nora Ford. North Platte answered down the stretch and closed the quarter on a 9-0 run, capped off by a step back jumper by Kayla Pope to cut the margin to five, 18-13.

Fumnanya Ijeh pulled the Knights back within one by going four-of-four from the free throw line in the opening seconds of the second quarter. The Pirates began to hit their stride on the offensive end as their lead grew back to twelve by the midway point of the quarter. The North Platte offense went back to work and cut the deficit to seven on a three by Brauer, but the Pirates responded and extended their lead to fifteen by the halftime break, 49-34.

Back-to-back layups by Diamond Moore-Heath trimmed the deficit to eleven, but the Pirates high powered offense pushed their lead to twenty-one with 6:14 to play in the third quarter. Knights trimmed the deficit to twenty, as Brauer connected on her third three of the game. North Central Missouri pushed their lead back over twenty points, before the Knights closed the quarter on a 9-3 run to trim the deficit to seventeen headed into the final quarter.

North Platte outscored the Pirates 14-6 over the opening four minutes to trim the deficit to eleven. During that span, Moore-Heath and Brauer combined for ten points as the Knights started to capture some momentum.

North Central Missouri never allowed the margin under eleven points for the remainder of the contest, as they extended their lead back to twenty points. A Knights 7-1 run over the closing minutes narrowed the margin to fourteen, but the Pirates held on to the momentum and put the final touches on their fifteenth win of the season.

Moore-Heath added 19 points and seven rebounds, while her teammates Ijeh and Pope pitched in 12 points and 11 points, respectively.

Knights (14-8) conclude their weekend road trip against the Bobcats of Peru State College on Sunday, Jan. 30. Tip is set for 2 p.m. inside the Al Wheeler Activity Center.