McCook – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights basketball team (13-11, 2-1 Region IX Division II, 3-2 NCCAC) fell to the McCook Community College Lady Indians (5-20, 2-3 NCCAC) in overtime in the second overtime game of the match-up this season by a score 72-75 after being tied at 64 in regulation.
The Lady Knights and Lady Indians fought back and forth throughout the entire game as there were eight ties and 16 lead changes. The Lady Indians held the largest lead of the game at nine points with a score of 40-49.
The Lady Knights entered the final minute of regulation down by four points. Jordan Dickerson hit a 3-pointer to cut the McCook lead to one point, but then was forced to foul, ending her night with her fifth foul of the game. After the Lady Indians hit both free throws to stretch the lead to three points, Aliyah Brown hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with a few ticks remaining. The Lady Indians attempt at the buzzer was unsuccessful and the game went into overtime.
In overtime, Aliyah Brown would continue her hot shooting as she knocked down a 3-pointer and a shot with her toe on the line to give the Knights a lead. McCook would fight back and outscore the Lady Knights down the stretch and outscore them in overtime 8-11 to earn the victory.
DaVontaye Merritt led the way for the Lady Knights with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Brown and Jordan Dickerson were the other Lady Knights in double-figures as both finished with 13 points. Cydnee Ceballos had a double-double for the Lady Indians as she finished with 26 points and 17 rebounds.
The Lady Knights are currently tied atop the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference (NCCAC) standing with Central Community College with a 3-2 record. Southeast Community College owns a 1-2 record while McCook is 2-3 in the NCCAC.
North Platte returns home for their second to last home game of the regular season as the host Eastern Wyoming College Lady Lancers (13-11) at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Knights lost at Torrington on Jan. 11 by a score of 59-77.
The game with Eastern Wyoming will be live streamed by Coaches Aid. A link to the broadcast can be found by going to www.npccknights.com and clicking on the “Live Video” link.
The Lady Knights are then done for the week as the game originally scheduled for Feb 16 at Nebraska Wesleyan JV has been cancelled.
The Lady Knights finish out their regular season next week with two games. First North Platte travels to Goodland, Kan. to take on Northwest Kansas Technical College on Wednesday Feb. 19 at 5 p.m. The Lady Knights defeated the Lady Broncos 92-76 on Nov. 22.
The last home game and last game of the regular season for the Lady Knights is Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. when they host the Southeast Community College Lady Storm (0-2 Region IX Division II, 1-3 NCCAC) in a very important Region IX Division II match-up. The Lady Knights won in Beatrice 59-50 on Jan. 17.