North Platte – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights lost their opening game of the Region IX Division II season, losing to the Southeast Community College Lady Storm 61-59 Saturday afternoon at the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium.

Both teams started out slowly. The Lady Knights shot in the first quarter 23.8 percent from the field and the Lady Storm shot 38.5 percent, both teams making five field goals. At the end of the first quarter, the Lady Storm held a 13-12 advantage.

The Lady Storm outscored the Lady Knights in the second quarter 18-9 to open the game up and take a 31-21 halftime lead.

During the third quarter, the Lady Knights got back into the game with the score being 28-38 the Lady Knights went on a 12-1 run to take the lead at the end of the third quarter at 40-39. Jessica Lovitt made a field goal at the third quarter buzzer to give the Lady Knights the lead.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Lady Knights continued to build their lead by going on a 6-1 run to lead 46-40. The Lady Knights held their biggest lead at eight with a 53-45 lead. The Lady Storm outscored the Lady Knights 16-6 down the stretch including an 8-0 run to gain the win.

The Lady Storm improve their season record to 2-12 on the season and 1-0 in Region IX Division II play. Jayda Tiller led the Lady Storm in scoring with 14 points. Two other players scored in double figures for Southeast, Jay’la Brown finished with 11 points and Kaatia Watene added 10 points. Brown had 14 rebounds and Tiller had 11 rebounds to pace the Lady Storm.

Allison Tichy was the only Lady Knight to score in double figures with 17 points on six field goals, including two three-pointers and three free throws. Lovitt had 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Knights.

The Lady Knights, who are now 5-10 on the season and 0-1 in Region IX, are in action next when they travel to Seward to face the Concordia University Junior Varsity on Monday, January 16. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm CST.