The No. 16 North Platte Community College Lady Knights basketball team open up their season at home this Friday and Saturday as they host the Hampton Inn Classic November 1 and 2.

The Lady Knights are ranked 16th in the pre-season NJCAA Division II rankings. It marks the first ranking at any time in program history.

The Lady Knights will start their season Friday night as they host Midland University JV at 7:30 p.m. As part of the Hampton Inn Classic Eastern Wyoming College and Fort Carson will precede the Lady Knights opener as they play at 5:30 p.m.

The Hampton Inn Classic continues on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. as Midland University JV faces Eastern Wyoming College. The Lady Knights face Fort Carson at 3 p.m. to conclude the Hampton Inn Classic.

The Lady Knights look to defend their Region IX Division II championship and District F Playoff victory that earned them a spot in the NJCAA Division II National Championships. The Lady Knights look to improve on their 15-16 record from a year ago.

DaVontaye Merritt returns as the Lady Knight’s second leading scorer and rebounder at 12.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. The Lady Knights also return their third leading scorer Courtney Widick (9.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and assist leader and fifth leading scorer Jordan Dickerson (3.4 apg, 7.7 ppg). Samantha Hyatt (2.2 ppg) also returns for the Lady Knights. Nine new freshmen join the program for the 2013-14 season.

The Lady Knights return to action the following weekend as they travel to Norfolk for the Hawks Classic where they will face Des Moines Area Community College and Iowa Lakes Community College on November 8 and 9. The Lady Knights next home game is November 19 at 5 p.m. as they host Northeast Community College.