In just an eight-month period, the North Central Missouri College Lady Pirates have improved from a team that only won eight games a year ago, to one with six wins in the month of November (and counting) and an unofficial weekend championship at the John Wood Classic in Quincy, Illinois.
The insertion of superb freshman talent, along with noticeable improvement from the returning sophomore class, has bolstered the Lady Pirates early season surge, with freshman forward Sarah Lamp (Kirksville, MO) putting together two tremendous games in two weekend wins on the banks of the Mississippi River.
On Friday night, NCMC improved to 5-2 with an 82-69 win over the host John Wood Trail Blazers. Lamp had 25 points and 16 rebounds. On Saturday afternoon, playing Bryant and Stratton College (Wisconsin), the Lady Pirates fell behind early (22-15 after one quarter), but took a 5 point lead (40-35) by halftime, and cruised home with an 82-73 win.
Lamp had another strong outing, with 30 points and 11 rebounds, while freshman point guard Kendey Eaton (Mound City, MO) had 25 points. Sophomore small forward Dasia Young had 16 rebounds and nine assists, adding eight points in a stat-stuffing game for the product of William Chrisman High School in Independence.
NCMC returns home for its final pre-Thanksgiving contest of the season, hosting the William Penn (Iowa) junior varsity at 5:30 tonight (Monday night) inside the Ketcham Community Center. The Pirate men, idle since a Tuesday night loss to Southwestern (Iowa), look to get back into the win column, hosting the Central Methodist (Fayette, MO) junior varsity at 7:30 tonight.
