North Platte – North Platte Community College has named current Lady Knights assistant coach Ashley Bell as the interim head women’s basketball coach for the 2017-18 season.

Bell was a volunteer assistant for the Lady Knights during the 2015-16 season and the assistant coach during the 2016-17 season.

Bell, a native of Beaumont, Texas, played for the Lady Knights from 2006-08. Bell is number two on the Lady Knights all-time scoring list with 897 points. She also holds Lady Knights single season records in offensive rebounding (109), defensive rebounds (210), total rebounds (319), field goals made (221) and points (550) during her sophomore season. She was named to the National Junior College Athletic Association All-Region IX team both her freshman and sophomore seasons.

After her career at NPCC, Bell played for Huston-Tillotson University in Texas where she averaged 15 points per game and 12 rebounds per game. Bell was a first-team Red River Athletic Conference selection, Huston-Tillotson most valuable player and was a nominee for national player of the week during her senior season.

Bell graduated from Huston-Tillotson with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in education in 2010.

NPCC Athletic Director Kevin O’Connor said, “We are pleased that Ashley has agreed to be our women’s basketball coach for next year. She has sacrificed a great deal personally, and worked diligently as the assistant coach for the program the past two years.”