by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Turning in one of the best performances of the year in a 100-65 win at North Central Missouri Tuesday, Kansas City Kansas Community College resumes action today when the Lady Blue Devils entertain William Penn junior varsity in a 6 o’clock tipoff.
“Terrific team win with a lot of good things to take away from our effort tonight,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “We did a much better job defensively as we were much more action than the past few games. Considering we only had two practices after having a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, I was very pleased with our effort.”
Sophomore posts Lillie Moore and Nija Collier combined for 52 points and Kisi Young added double-double in leading the way.
Moore had a season high 29 points and eight rebounds; Collier 23 points of 9-of-11 shooting, five rebounds and a game high six assists; and Young took just five shots, made them all, in a 10-point, 10-rebound performance.
Camryn Swanson led the perimeter scoring, draining four 3-pointers in a 14-point performance while Caroline Hoppock added nine points, Lexy Watts eight and Lenaejha Evans seven.
Watts, Evans and Caitlyn Stewart each had four assists as the Blue Devils had 26 assists on 39 field goals.
“We did a great job of playing through our post players in the first half,” McKinstry said. “I don’t think we shot anything other than a layup until the final 2½ minutes of the first quarter.”
Guilty of just 11 turnovers, the Blue Devils surged to a 26-12 first quarter lead and expanded it to 57-30 at the half. KCKCC was 39-of-72 for 54.2 percent in shooting.
“We tried zone and man defenses but just couldn’t get stops,” North Central coach Jenni Croy said. “KCKCC threw a zone at us they hadn’t played all year and we struggled in the first half against it before making some adjustments at the half to get some better looks in the second half.”
The win was the ninth in 10 starts for the Blue Devils, who are on the road for their next three games before returning home Tuesday, Dec. 11, to play host to Metropolitan, the only team to defeat KCKCC this season.