Marshalltown, IA—The Marshalltown Community College women's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak on Saturday as the Tigers held off the Des Moines Area Community College Bears 68-67 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) action in the Student Activity Center.
Jamerka Martin (Milwaukee, WI/Rufus King) and Jasmin Howe (Millicent, Australia/Millicent) combined to shoot 9-17 from three-point range, including five in the second half. Howe finished with a team-high 16 while Martin contributed 15 points, all from long range. Courtney Williams-Perry (Milwaukee, WI/Bradley Tech), this week's ICCAC Player of the Week, grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds and has now recorded at least 15 rebounds in four of her last five games.
As a team, the Tigers (11-4, 2-3) shot 55 percent from three-point range, their best mark of the season. The MCC defense limited the Bears to just 11.5 percent (3-26) from three-point range and forced 16 turnovers. DMACC (10-7, 2-3) shot 30.4 percent overall, including just 25 percent in the second half.
The Tigers jumped out to a 7-0 lead as Martin knocked down her first three of the game. The Bears responded with a 17-4 win of their own to take the lead. DMACC led by as much as 12 but at the 6:45 mark Martin knocked down a pair of threes to spark a 9-0 run for MCC. The Tigers scored the final five points of the half to cut the deficit to one, 36-35, at halftime.
At the 18:15 mark of the second half Martin hit her fourth three of the game to give MCC their first lead in over 14 minutes. Over the next five minutes the both teams traded the lead three times and were tied on three separate occasions. DMACC held a seven point lead until a layup from Mackenzie Gott (Oskaloosa, IA/Oskaloosa) and back-to-back threes from Ilsie Calles (Van Nuys, CA/Fulton Prep) and Martin gave MCC a 54-53 lead. The Bears eventually took back the lead and held a 61-58 advantage until Howe scored five straight points to put MCC back on top.
Gott converted a three-point play and Ashley Salgado (Ottunwa, IA/Ottumwa) cut into the lane to hit a running layup and put the Tigers up 68-65. DMACC had one final attempt to tie the game after Jalissa Felici hit a jumper and was fouled on the play with four seconds left. Felici missed the free throw attempt and Williams-Perry collected the final rebound of the game.
Salgado, the ICCAC's leader in assists recorded a game-high seven assists and is now averaging 5.6 per contest. The sophomore also grabbed seven rebounds, two steals and added six points. Gott reached double-figures for the 13th time this season, scoring 12 points to go along with nine rebounds.
The win also snaps a four-game losing streak to DMACC. Over the last two seasons, the Tigers had averaged just 51 points per contest against the Bears.
MCC will host Iowa Lakes Community College for an ICCAC contest at 5:00 PM on Jan. 15.
