The North Central Missouri College women’s basketball team hosted the NCMC New Year’s Classic over the weekend and the Lady Pirates picked up a pair of Region 16 wins to improve to 16-2 overall.
NCMC ran Cottey College off the court on Friday night, 95-45. NCMC toppled their second regional opponent on Saturday when they beat Florissant Valley, 87-56.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
In the other classic games, Anne Arundel Community College lost to Florissant Valley, 80-75, on Friday and then fell to Cottey College on Saturday, 78-63.
NCMC
The Lady Pirates opened regional play with a pair of wins. North Central kicked off the classic by overwhelming the Lady Comets in the first half, outscoring Cottey College, 43-17.
“We really looked great and had one of the best performances in my four years here,” Head Coach James Arnold said. “It was a total team effort and it was a big time win against a strong region opponent.”
Amber Jordan and Kristen Buhrmeister led the Lady Pirates charge in the first half as the two combined for 21 points.
The Lady Pirates outscored Cottey College in the second half, 51-28. Jordan piled on 11 more points and finished with a game-high, 22 points. She also had eight rebounds.
“We were fortunate to catch Cottey when we did,” Arnold said. “It was their first game in about a month and we took advantage of that.”
North Central had five scorers in double digits. Buhrmeister finished with 16 points. Brittany Parker had 13 points. Megan Doty scored 11 points and Amber Vandevender chipped in with 10 points and seven assists. Tiara Johnson had nine points and seven assists.
L. Leonard led Cottey College with 14 points.
North Central continued its strong play on Saturday against Florissant Valley, leading at halftime, 41-26. The Lady Pirates outscored Florissant Valley by 16 points in the second half.
Jillian Palan powered her way to 22 points and eight rebounds. Tiara Johnson had a good outing with five points, six rebounds and five assists.
“Jillian only shot twice on Friday, so we wanted to get our post more involved and Jillian really responded strong,” Arnold said. “She was tremendous. We weren’t really sharp, but we used our inside play to get some easy baskets and to get to the free throw line.”
Jordan turned in 15 points and seven rebounds. Parker scored 17 points and Vandevender finished with 16 points. Aaron led Florissant Valley with 14 points.
“These were two big wins because we can start the region looking down from the top and that’s better than playing catch-up,” Arnold said. “We are playing good basketball and things seem to be really clicking. We know that things are going to get tough and we also know that it’s all about the post-season, so this is all preparation for that.”
NCMC improves to 16-2 and are currently ranked fifth in the national NJCAA Division II poll. The Lady Pirates host Highland Community College at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The North Central men host Graceland University’s junior varsity at 7:30 p.m.
“The real winner this week was the community,” Arnold said. “Along with the high school shoot-out last week, to have these college teams from across the country come to Trenton and stay and eat here, everyone wins.”