by Alan Hoskins
Cheyenne North made her 2015-16 basketball debut one to remember, tying the Kansas City Kansas Community College record for blocked shots with nine in a 79-68 win at North Central Wednesday.
The first road win of the season, the unbeaten and 20th ranked Lady Blue Devils (4-0) go right back on the road at North Arkansas Saturday at 2 p.m.
A 5-11 sophomore from Gallatin, Tenn., North tied Kesia Houston’s 1994 record with her nine blocked shots on the way to a near rare triple double. In addition to leading in blocks, North led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting and paced all rebounders with 15 including seven off the offensive boards.
Erin Anderson added 14 points, Aricca Daye 12 points and seven assists and Brooklyn Wagler 11 points and nine rebounds as the Blue Devils opened a 38-31 halftime lead and never trailed in the second half..
“It was good to get our first win on the road and good to have Cheyenne North back,” said KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry. “She (North) adds a lot to the things we can do. While we didn’t shoot the ball well, we had 20 offensive rebounds which was fantastic and were able to do the other things that enabled us to win.”
The Blue Devils were just 31 of 80 from the field for 38.8 percent and only 4-of-23 from three-point range for 17.4 percent. However, the defense limited North Central to 23-of-66 shots for 34.8 percent, dominated the rebounding 50-37 and forced 18 turnovers.
Alan Hoskins is the sports information director for KCKCC.