Knights cruise to win over Trinidad State

North Platte, Neb. – Strong defense held the Trojans of Trinidad State College in check, as the Knights cruised to a 71-34 win on Thursday night.  

"We had a strong defensive performance tonight," said head coach Jeff Thurman. "Everyone was able to contribute, but now we must prepare for a tough battle this weekend."

Diamond Moore-Heath led the Knights with 16 points and eight rebounds, while fellow sophomore Kayla Pope chipped in 15 points in thirty-two minutes of action.

North Platte (21-8) held Trinidad State to their worst shooting performance of the year. The Trojans shot just 18.5 percent (10-54) from the floor, including 0-of-15 from the perimeter, while turning the ball over 21 times in the matchup.

Trinidad State jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the opening minutes, before the Knights flipped the script with an 18-0 run to close the opening quarter. Moore-Heath led the charge sparking the run after capitalizing on an offensive putback opportunity.

Knights began to heat up from the perimeter, as Fumnanya Ijeh and Janay Brauer connected from beyond the arc to extend the lead to ten. Strong defense kept the Trojans from halting the run, as the lead grew to sixteen by the end of the opening ten minutes.

North Platte held the Trojans to seven points in each of the next two quarters, as the Knights lead grew to 49-18 after three quarters of play.

A putback by Jordyn Moon and a baseline jumper by Brauer stretched the Knights lead to thirty-five in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Trinidad matched the Knights for the next five minutes, before a deep three from Ijeh pushed the lead to 65-26.

The margin hovered above thirty-five for the remainder of the game, until Avery Johnson and Madison Heinzen closed out the final four points of the contest for the Knights.

Knights will round out the regular season on Saturday with No. 17 North Central Missouri College at 1 p.m at the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium. The Pirates defeated North Platte in their first meeting of the season 94-80 back on Jan. 29 in Trenton, Mo.