MCC Women top North Platte; clinch share of NCCAC title

The McCook Community College women clinched at least a share of the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference title with a 64-54 win over North Platte Community College. Tuesday's win at the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center win puts MCC at 4-1 in the conference and avenges the only conference loss this season (77-65 at North Platte on Jan. 24).

"This was another good team win for us, we continue to put things together," said MCC Coach Brandon Pritchett.

MCC led 15-13 after the first quarter but trailed at halftime, 25-23.

"We didn't have a great shooting first half. We kind of put ourselves in a hole again when they played their zone – like a lot of teams have – and then we came out and got the ball more inside and executed better in the second half," said Pritchett.

MCC shot just 26.9 from the field in the first half.

"North Platte was down some players and competed hard for 40 minutes," said Pritchett. "Coach (Jeff) Thurman always does a great job."

MCC came out with a 17-10 third quarter edge and stretched it to a 24-19 lead in the final 10 minutes.

"Down the stretch I thought we really executed well on defense, and we got a lot of players helping out in a lot of different ways," said Pritchett. "Like in the first half we had some players step up and some didn't play in the second half," Pritchett said. "It was just an entire team effort all the way through."

Vanessa Jurewicz (sophomore, Stockholm, Sweden) led all scorers with 24 points. She made eight of 16 shots from the field, two of six from the 3-point line and six of eight from the free-throw line. Taryn Lindsey, (redshirt freshman, Fountain, Colo.) scored 22 points on a seven-for-13 shooting night from the field, two of five from distance and six of seven at the line.

Freshman Natalie Harmata, (Sydney, Australia) scored 11 points and led MCC with eight rebounds. Noa Iglesias Chorda (freshman, Barcelona, Spain) added seven boards.

MCC finished shooting 51.6 percent in the second half and 40.4 percent for the game. MCC made four of 16 3-pointers and went 14-for-19 from the charity stripe (73.7 percent).

North Platte shot 37.5 percent for the game, made three of 16 3-pointers and went nine of 17 from the free-throw line. The Knights won the battle on the boards 35-31.

MCC goes to 11-14 and 4-1 in the NCCAC with one conference game left (Monday at Columbus against Central Community College. Second place Southeast Community College (3-2) also has one game left with Central CC. MCC swept both games this season against Southeast CC.

North Platte goes to 6-18 and 1-4 in the Nebraska Conference.

MCC will return to Region IX play Thursday and hosts Northeastern Junior College in the final home game of the year starting at 5:30 p.m. game at the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center. This will also be sophomore recognition night.

MCC is third among the six teams in the south division of Region IX. Western Nebraska leads the standings at 5-1, Otero is second at 5-2, MCC is third at 4-2, Trinidad State is fourth at 3-4, Northeastern Junior College fifth at 2-4 and Lamar College sixth at 1-6.

"This is the beginning of a long week – four games in seven days," said Pritchett.

MCC's four remaining Region IX games includes Thursday's home game with NJC then three road games: Saturday at Scottsbluff against Western Nebraska, Feb. 24 at La Junta, Colo. against Otero Junior College, and Feb. 25 at Trinidad State.

The winner of the south division will host the Region IX post-season tournament this year with the top two finishers from the south and north getting automatic bids. The third and fourth-place teams will host a home play-in game against the fifth and sixth place teams.

For all the up-to-date information on MCC women's basketball this season and all sports including schedules, statistics, rosters and photos, please visit the official website of MCC Athletics at mccindians.com

NEBRASKA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

ATHLETIC CONFERENCE STANDINGS

                        W - L     PCT.

McCook CC        4 – 1     .800

Southeast CC     3 – 2    .600

Central CC         1 – 2      .333

North Platte       1 – 4      .200

RESULTS

Nov. 22 – MCC 67, Central 61 (at McCook)

Jan. 21 – Southeast CC 88, Central 47 (at Beatrice)

Jan. 24 – North Platte 77 MCC 65 (at North Platte)

Jan. 27 – Southeast CC 73, North Platte 69 (at Beatrice)

Jan. 29 – MCC 74, Southeast 66 (at Beatrice)

Feb. 3 – Central CC 60, North Platte 50 (at North Platte)

Feb. 7 – MCC 59, Southeast CC 52 (at McCook)

Feb. 11 – Southeast CC 69 at North Platte 54 (at North Platte)

Feb. 15 – MCC 64, North Platte 54 (at McCook)

REMAINING SCHEDULE

Feb. 17 – North Platte at Central CC (Columbus), 5:30 p.m.

Feb. 20 – McCook at Central CC (Columbus), 5:30 p.m.

Feb. 25 – Southeast CC at Central (Columbus), 5:30 p.m.