The North Platte Community College Lady Knights were defeated by the Southeast Community College Lady Storm 71-57 at the Truman Events Center in Beatrice Saturday.
The Lady Knights drop to 10-8 on the season and 1-1 in National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX Division II play. The Lady Storm improve to 10-6 overall and 1-0 in the region.
“It was a game of runs,” said Lady Knights head coach Richard Thurin.
Mid-way through the first half the Lady Storm went on a 14-2 run to take a 25-12 lead with 5:05 left to go in the half.
The Lady Knights then went on a 8-4 run to cut the lead to nine at half, 29-20, keyed by a three-pointer by Sarah Mahr.
In the second half, the Lady Knights scored the first seven points to cut the Southeast lead to two, 29-27.
The Lady Knights took the lead 44-43 with just under 13 minutes to play.
The game see-sawed back and forth until the Lady Storm opened up the game down the stretch.
“It was hard to defend Southeast’s inside game,” Thurin said. “We need to play better defense without fouling.”
The Lady Knights had three of their starters on the bench in the first half because of foul trouble.
Thurin also praised the play of Sarah Mahr. Mahr had her second double-double in as many nights. She had 18 points and 13 rebounds. “Sarah played her best game tonight,” Thurin said.
Other Lady Knights to score in double figures were Aliyah Brown, who scored 15 points and April Stull who finished the game with 12 points. Brown also recorded a double-double as she pulled down 10 rebounds.
The Lady Storm were led in scoring by Veshae Wilkinson, who led all scorers with 23 points. Breanna Grant added 16, and Dionne Martin chipped in 12 points. Martin led the Lady Storm in rebounding with 9.
The Lady Knights return to action on Friday, January 23 at home against Northeast Community College.
The game may be seen online at www.coachesaid.com.
Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CST (Note: The game was originally scheduled for 3:00 but was moved up due to the South Platte Valley Association High School Tournament later that night at McDonald-Belton).