March 24, 2025
Kirkwood Finishes 4th at Nationals
Joplin, MO-
CCBC Essex 109
Kirkwood 84
Kirkwood concluded their season with a 109-84 loss to CCBC Essex in the consolation game Saturday night at the NJCAA DII National Tournament in Joplin, MO.
The Eagles (33-2) got in a hole early thanks to the Knights' hot shooting from three point range.
Sophomore Lizzy Puot, who finished with a career-high 27 points, gave Kirkwood their only lead of the game at 6-5 with 7:46 remaining in the first quarter.
Essex responded with a 12-0 run on four three pointers to take a 17-5 lead and began to take control of the game. The Knights led 25-12 after a quarter.
Kirkwood managed to trim the lead down to 35-28 on a layup by sophomore Jariah Harris with 4:25 remaining in the first half.
The Knights then rattled off a 13-4 run to close the half and take a 48-32 lead at halftime.
The Eagles had no answer for Essex's three point shooting, as they finished game 24-47 (51.1%).
Also scoring in double figures for the Eagles was sophomore Jenna Twedt, who capped her Eagles' career off with a 15 point performance.
Harris grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to go along with 10 points.
Twedt was named to the National Tournament All-Tournament Team for the second consecutive season.
This group of sophomores capped off a brilliant two year span, which incuded the following:
* 68-4 overall record
* Undeafeated at home (37-0)
* 37-1 ICCAC record
* Two time ICCAC Champions
* 2024 NJCAA DII National Champions
* 2025 NJCAA DII 4th Place Finish
* NJCAA DII record 54 game win streak
* NJCAA DII record 74 consecutive home wins
