MCC Women lose at North Platte 68-62

NORTH PLATTE - The McCook Community College women dropped a 68-62 decision at North Platte Wednesday.

“It was just two different halves tonight,” said MCC Coach Brandon Pritchett. “Praise to North Platte, they played a great game. They made shots from the perimeter, and they took care of the basketball.”

The Knights overcame a 57-53 deficit with 3:37 minutes left in the game and outscored MCC 15-5 over the final 3:08 to secure the win. NPCC made seven of 12 free throws in the final minute of the game.

MCC led for a majority of the game, leading 12-8 at the end of the first quarter, 28-22 at halftime and 46-41 after three quarters. North Platte outscored MCC 27-16 in the final 10 minutes of the game. The Knights made 14 of 21 free throws in the second half and MCC didn’t even attempt a free throw over the final 20 minutes of the game.

“We have to be stronger down low on both ends of the ball,” said Pritchett.

Sophomore Laia Izquierdo Altimira (Barcelona, Spain) led MCC with 20 points. Mar Molina Munoz (freshman, Parets del Valles, Spain) scored 15 points and freshman Nevaeh Lucero (Thornton, Colo.) pitched in eight points and was the co-leader in rebounds with seven.

“Laia and Nevaeh both shot well for us,” said Pritchett. “Mar made big shots for us tonight, it was good to see her making outside shots. She hadn't been consistent since before her ankle injury.”

Freshman Stephanie Nnabuihe (Newbridge, Ireland) also had seven rebounds and scored five points. Both teams had 35 rebounds.

North Platte shot 42.6 from the field, made five of 16 shots from 3-point range (31.3 percent), and made 17 of 30 free throws in the game (56.7 percent). The Knights and 12 turnovers.

MCC shot 43.1 percent from the field, made five of 15 triples (33.3 percent) and seven of 10 free throws (70 percent). The Lady Indians turned the ball over 13 times.

The Knights improve to 4-6 in Region IX South and 7-17 overall.

MCC falls to 7-3 in the region standings and 14-12 overall.

The Lady Indians have the weekend off and will play Feb. 18 against Western Nebraska at Scottsbluff. MCC’s final home game will be Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. against Northeastern Junior College.

“Our consistency on the offensive has to be better moving forward,” said Pritchett. “We have a long week to be able to work on that before traveling to Scottsbluff next week.”

Up-to-date information about MCC women’s basketball including livestream links for home games, schedule, statistics, rosters, photos and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com