The Lady Pirates pushed their Region 16 record to 3-0 Saturday with a 32 point victory over MCC-Penn Valley.  The win moves the team's overall record to 15-5 and the squad is now receiving votes in the latest NJCAA poll. 

The Lady Pirates were led by Assistant Coach Lesli Collins, standing in for Head Coach Jenni Croy who was serving a mandatory one game suspension following her ejection on the road at Cottey College, in the win.  Coach Collins was certainly up to the task as the Lady Pirates came out hot, posting a 35-15 halftime lead.  "I thought the girls came out very fired up," commented Coach Croy, who was listening to the radio broadcast of the game.

The defensive effort for the Lady Pirates was definitely remarkable.  The team held the nation's leading scorer, Mia Cushon, to just 2 points in the game.  She had been averaging 28 points per game prior to the contest.  "The girls knew they needed to control Cushon and limit Penn Valley's second chance points. Our defense did a great job holding her down and limiting Penn Valley to only three offensive rebounds in the game," remarked Coach Collins of the defensive effort.

Leading performers for the Lady Pirates were Kendey Eaton with 25 points, Madison Gonseth with 15 points and 12 rebounds and Sarah Lamp, who totaled 13 points and 20 rebounds.  McKinley Hurley also chipped in 10 points and 7 assists.

"Our girls were definitely fired up for this game. The girls worked well together on both ends of the floor leading to a great team win," concluded Coach Collins.

The Lady Pirates are back in action on the road against Southeast Community College on Wednesday, February 1st.  The team took care of the Storm earlier this year at home 96-59.  The team is riding a 7 game winning streak heading into the matchup.

Photos courtesy of Phil Schlarb.