Lady Pirates basketball took a tough one-point defeat in the Region XVI semifinal Thursday night.  NCMC fell 60-59 to Metropolitan Community College, closing their season with a 19-10 record overall.  The Wolves move on to take face St. Louis Community College in the region championship game.

NCMC fell behind early in the game and despite an inspiring fourth quarter comeback attempt, could not pull out the victory.  At the end of the first quarter, the Lady Pirates trailed 17-6.  Heading into the final period, it was still an 11-point deficit facing NCMC.

NCMC was able to pour in 22 points in the final quarter, one more than their first half total.  However, that left them trailing by a point with 1.1 seconds left to play.  NCMC tried an inbounds play from beneath their basket, hoping for the game winning shot, but the pass went awry and the turnover sealed defeat.

The Lady Pirates leading scorer in the game was freshman Kennedie Kieffer with 17 points.  Lily Osborn and Da'Briauna Bables also scored in double figures.  NCMC's regular season leading scorer, Kortlyn Rounkles, was held to just 5 points.