Lady Pirates Sail into Top 25!
Lady Pirate Basketball made their mark this past Monday breaking into the top 25 in the nation for Division II junior college basketball. Led by Coach Jonathan Richardson, the Pirates buried the Bo Weevils of Enterprise State Community College with a 37-point victory (84-47) to anchor their spot. Sophomore Zy Thompson led the way with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. While freshman Aaliyah Younger and sophomore Nyelle Lee also played significant roles with Younger landing four 3’s to finish with 21 points and Lee to finish with 10 points and 7 assists.
Despite being faced with several season ending injuries, the Lady Pirates’ have had a successful season thus far as they are first in the conference with an 8-game winning streak and a 14-5 overall record. Zy Thompson has been a great addition this year leading the way with 14 points and 7 rebounds per game. She is currently the leading candidate for Player of the Year in the Alabama Community College Conference. Aaliyah Younger is averaging double figures with 13 points per contest. Younger has proved to be one of the top 3-point shooters in the conference at 38%. Richardson states “the key to the Pirate’s offense is ball movement”. Also noting that with 6 players each averaging between 8 and 14 points per game, success has truly been a team effort.
With tournament play in their sights Coach Richardson states his focus is to continue to get better every day.
“We are a young group, so we are not even close to reaching our full potential. We feel like we can beat anyone that we face, and we know that we can beat anyone that we face as well”
The Lady Pirates’ regular season play is coming to a close with only 3 more home games; February 13th against Reid State, February 17th against East Georgia, February 24th against Coastal Alabama North. All games have a 5 PM EST start time and will be played in Key Hall. You don’t want to miss the opportunity to see your nationally ranked Lady Pirates live in action.
As always,
GOOOO PIRATES!