Lady Panthers fall at home
The Neosho County Community College Lady Panthers fell at home on Saturday night 74-60 against the Highland Community College Lady Scotties.
The Lady Panthers found themselves down 11-1 inside the first four minutes of the game, following yet another slow start offensively.
Neosho County was not going to go away without a fight.
Alexis Hafenstein would hit a three point shot to bring the Scottie advantage down to four with 13:46 left in the first half.
Following the game Head Coach Kelley Newton was pleased with the fight and the energy of his team in the first half. “We got down 11-1 but we battled and got back into the game,” stated Newton.
With 2:46 remaining in the first half
Christina Sheppard gave the Lady Panthers their first lead at 22-20. Neosho County would take their narrow 27-25 lead into halftime.
The Lady Scotties would regain the lead for good at 33-31 with 14:40 left in the game.
“We exerted a lot of energy to take the lead against a really good team,” explained Newton. “In the second half, I feel our energy went flat,”
Once the Lady Scotties took the lead again, the nationally ranked team, just slowly pulled away for the 14 point victory.
“It was one of those situations where we had a good team on the ropes,” said Newton. “We have to learn from this.”
In the loss, the Lady Panthers still had three players in score in double digits. Sophomore
Autumn Zenon led the way with 18, while Hafenstein had 14 points, and
Shanice Palmer added 10.
Neosho County only converted 32 percent of their shot attempts and coughed up the ball 15 times in the game.
“Replaying the game in my head right now, we missed about 10 layups and a number of offensive rebound put backs,” stated Newton. Those are plays you have to make.”
The loss drops the Lady Panthers to 5-23 overall and 4-12 in the KJCCC East.
The Lady Panthers will travel to Coffeyville Community College on Wednesday night to take on the Lady Red Ravens. Tip-off is set for 6pm.
HCC 25 49 – 74
NCCC 27 33 - 60
