Knights season ends with loss to Ladyjacks in Northwest Plains District Championship

Bottineau, N.D. – Knights were held to one of their lowest scoring outputs of the season, as the Ladyjacks of Dakota College of Bottineau upset North Platte in the Northwest Plains District Championship 72-52 in Bottineau, N.D.

Janay Brauer led the Knights with 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the field, including 4-of-11 from downtown. Kayla Pope was the only other Knights player in double-figures, finishing with ten points to accompany her six rebounds and three steals.

"We ran into an inspired team this afternoon," said head coach Jeff Thurman. "I'm proud of this team and these sophomores, they set the standard for what we want this program to be for the future."

The Ladyjacks stormed out to an early 9-2 lead in the opening 6:44 of the first quarter. The Knights broke their silence, as Brauer drove baseline and kicked the ball to Avery Johnson for the short jumper.

A short 4-0 burst by the Ladyjacks over the next two minutes helped extend their lead to ten. Fumnanya Ijeh earned a trip to the free throw line, as she managed to cut the margin to nine by the end of the opening ten minutes.

The deficit was trimmed to six in the opening minute of the second quarter, before the Ladyjacks extended their lead to thirteen with 7:18 remaining, 23-10. A short spurt cut the deficit inside ten, as Diamond Moore-Heath kicked the ball to Jordyn Moon underneath for the layup.

The Ladyjacks held North Platte scoreless for the remaining 5:45 of the quarter, as their hot perimeter shooting pushed their lead to nineteen by the halftime break, 33-14.

Dakota did not cool down during the break, as a 14-2 run over the opening minutes of the third quarter extended the lead to thirty-one. Knights launched an 8-3 run over the next five minutes, as back-to-back three pointers by Brauer cut the margin to twenty-six. The Ladyjacks answered down the stretch and closed the quarter on a 7-0 run, to push their lead to thirty-three headed into the final quarter.

North Platte made the most out of the final ten minutes, as they rallied to cut the deficit to twenty by the end of regulation. A 12-2 run to open the quarter helped the Knights cut into the deficit, but the Ladyjacks responded with their own run to extend their lead back to twenty-nine.

Knights continued to cut into the deficit down the stretch before back-to-back three pointers by Dayonna Roberts and Ijeh brought the deficit inside twenty points. The Ladyjacks added one more field goal in final minute, as they put the final touches on their wire-to-wire victory.

Knights (22-10) close out the 2021-22 campaign posting their best record in school history and having clinched back-to-back Region IX titles.