Beatrice – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights basketball team (8-7, 1-0 DII Region IX Division II, 1-0 NCCAC) went into Beatrice and emerged victorious over the Southeast Community College Lady Storm (11-10, 0-1 Region IX Division II, 1-1 NCCAC) in a hard fought 59-50 battle.

North Platte Community College, Southeast Community College and Central Community College are the three teams that comprise the Region IX Division II schools for women’s basketball. The three teams all play a home and home to seed the Region IX Division II Tournament. The #1 seed receives a bye, while the #2 seed hosts the #3 seed. The winner then plays at the #1 seed for the Region IX Division II Championship.

North Platte Community, Southeast Community College, Central Community College and McCook Community College make up the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference (NCCAC). The four schools play home and home this season, so today and tomorrow’s games are doubly important for the Lady Knights. Both Southeast (79-75) and Central (82-68) have defeated McCook on their home court this season.

The Lady Knights started out the game slow as the Lady Storm were able to take a 25-30 lead into the locker room. The Lady Knights started the second half strong as they would race out to a 10 point lead. The Lady Knights would maintain their lead to knock off the Lady Storm and earn the first victory of the season in the Region IX Division II race.

DaVontaye Merritt and April Stull both recorded double-doubles in the victory. Merritt finished with 22 points and 16 rebound while Stull had 16 points and 16 rebounds. Jordan Dickerson had 5 assists for the Lady Knights. Chealseah Savage and Meshia Smith each had 18 points for the Lady Storm.

“We took a step in the right direction,” said assistant coach Nolan Collins. “We played the best half of the year in the second half defensively. We need to carry it over to tomorrow which is another important game.”

The Lady Knights have a quick turnaround as they travel to Columbus to face the Central Community College Lady Raiders (12-6, 0-0 Region IX Division II, 1-0 NCCAC) tomorrow at 1 p.m. in another important Region IX Division II matchup.

The Lady Knights remain on the road next week as they return to road when they face the Northeast Community College Lady Hawks on Friday Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. and the Midland University JV on Saturday Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. The Lady Knights return home Tuesday Jan. 28 as they host the York College JV.