Tough Road Ahead For Pirates At DII Tourney
R-T Photo/Seth Herrold
Nora Ford, the Region 16 Player of the Year, is the leading scorer for the North Central women, who have averaged 82.4 points per game this season, the seventh-highest total in the nation.
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North Central received the eight seed at the tournament, placing them in a quadrant of the bracket that also houses top-seeded Kirkwood Community College, owners of a 32-1 record. The Pirates’ first-round foe — ninth-seeded Niagra County Community College — is 28-3 overall and averages 85.1 points per game, fifth in the nation.
“We were honestly a little surprised to get the eight seed,” NCMC head coach Jenni Croy said. “We thought we were going to fall into the 10, 11, 12 range. I guess that kind of shows some of the respect that the committee has for our team, so we are happy about that, but it is a completely tough draw.”
The Pirates have put up points in their own right, however, averaging 82.6 per game, placing them sixth in the nation, right behind Niagra County.
North Central is ranked 17th in the nation in the latest NJCAA poll, Niagra County is 20th.
The winner will get top-seeded and top-ranked Kirkwood. Kirkwood was the top-seeded team a year ago as well, but fell in the second round, leading to a fifth-place finish at the event.
“If we are going to go in we might as well go in and fight to get to the big dog,” Croy said. “These girls, this group, I don’t know if they fear anybody, really. Their attitude is ‘hey, we’re there, we might as well win’”
NCMC and Niagra tip off on Tuesday at 7 p.m.