Photo courtesy of the NJCAA
Kennadie Crowe puts up a shot during North Central’s 75-50 victory over Niagra County in the first round of the NJCAA Division II National Tournament in Port Huron, MI on Tuesday. Crowe had 13 points and 11 rebounds in the win.
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Much was made of the offensive numbers put up by the North Central Missouri College and Niagra County women’s basketball teams ahead of their first-round match-up at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament Tuesday night in Port Huron, MI.
North Central was the sixth-highest scoring team in the nation while Niagra County, averaging just over 85 points per game, was fifth.
When the game started, however, North Central’s defense took center stage.
Niagra County looked nowhere near the offensive stalwart it was billed as with the Pirates’ defense seemingly closing down everything. In the end, Niagra had a season-low point total of 50 as North Central advanced to the quarterfinal round of the national tournament with a 75-50 victory.
“We knew [Niagra] ran a ton of set plays and they liked to run in transition on our misses,” Pirates’ head coach Jenni Croy said. “We watched film and studied their set plays they use the most and focused on them defensively. Each time they called a play, we knew what was coming.”
North Central limited Niagra to just 27.8 percent from the field and the Thunderwolves converted on just 2-of-22 three-point attempts, under 10 percent, from distance. Niagra County came into the game connecting on nearly 45 percent of its shots from the field and was a 30-percent three-point shooting team during the regular season.
The Pirates also turned Niagra County over 16 times in the game, grabbing 10 steals as a team in the contest. North Central also swatted 10 Niagra shot attempts in the win.
The loss was just the fourth of the season for the Region 3 champion Thunderwolves.
“The girls executed the game plan to a ‘T’,” Croy said. “Angel [Wiggins’] energy was unmatched on the court and the girls fed off her. We knew we had to limit [Niagra’s] good looks.”
North Central led 16-12 after one quarter, but broke the game open in the middle frames. The Pirates outpaced Niagra 22-13 in the second quarter and 18-10 in the third as the game turned into a rout.
Region 16 Player of the Year Nora Ford led the Pirates with 26 points and six steals. Kennadie Crowe and Maci Moore each had double-doubles with Moore collecting 13 points and 13 rebounds and Crowe getting 13 points and 11 rebounds. Wiggins tallied nine points, six assists and three blocked shots. The Pirates also got eight points from Jasmine Taylor in the win.
The victory pushed the Pirates to 25-5 overall on the season and into the national quarterfinals where they took on No. 1 Kirkwood Community College Thursday night.
“We definitely wanted to come in and make a statement,” Croy said. “We wanted to prove to everyone that we belonged and the girls did just that. We aren’t done yet, though. These girls are determined. They know we have the number-one seed next and they respect them, but they fear no one.”
Following the match-up with Kirkwood, North Central will be back in action in Port Huron today (Friday), playing either in the national semifinals or fifth-place bracket, based on Thursday’s outcome.
A win places North Central in the semifinals at 7 o’clock while a loss would see the Pirates playing in the fifth-place semifinals at 2 o’clock.