North Platte – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights (1-1) women’s basketball team earned a split during the opening weekend of the season as they hosted the Hampton Inn Classic. The Lady Knights started out their season with a victory over the Midland University JV by a score of 57-35 on Friday night. North Platte returned to action the following day to complete the Classic but were handed their first loss of the season to Fort Carson 60-64 after leading at the half by a score of 36-28.
Against the Midland JV, the Lady Knights used a strong defensive effort to emerge victorious. North Platte held the Midland JV to only 28.9% shooting from the field and 23.5% from the 3-point line while shooting 49.1% themselves from the field. Sophomore April Stull led the way for the Lady Knights as she scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Sophomore Aliyah Brown was the only other Lady Knights in double-figures as she finished with 10 points, six rebounds and had two assists. Freshman Sarah Mahr chipped in eight points and sophomore Ester Micheva had seven rebounds.
In the second game of the season, the Lady Knights were again led by Stull and Brown. The Lady Knights led Fort Carson at 26-28 but were outscored 36-24 in the second half. April Stull finished with her first double-double of the season as she scored 18 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Aliyah Brown scored 13 points. Sophomore Alleyah Evans scored nine points and notched six rebounds. Three Lady Knights scored four points and four scored two points.
“We are still learning how to play together as a team,” said assistant coach Nolan Collins “and our freshman are still adjusting to college basketball. We are excited to return to action next weekend.”
The Lady Knights return to action next weekend as they travel to Norfolk for the Hawks Classic. On Friday, November 7 the Lady Knights face Des Moines Area Community College at 2 p.m. North Platte returns to action on Saturday, November 8 to face Iowa Lakes Community College at 12:00 p.m. The Lady Knights next home game is Wednesday, November 12 at 7 p.m. against the Hastings University JV.