Howe opened up the game with the hot hand, but exploded in the second half to carry the Tigers. MCC trailed 47-40 just over six minutes into the second frame when Howe knocked down six of her next seven shots, including all five three-point attempts. Howe's final trey tied the game at 66 and the Tigers were able to hold the Tritons to one field goal over the final two minutes to earn the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) upset.
"We came ready to play tonight," said Howe. "We wanted to avenge that loss from earlier in the season. We took it personally. We knew we were better than that," Howe said speaking of the Tigers 113-70 drubbing on Dec. 11. On her robust shooting performance, Howe credited her dedication to getting extra shots in. "I've just been getting in the gym a lot lately and I've been able to stay focused. Tonight it just all came together."
Over her last three games, Howe has averaged 23.3 points per contest while shooting 62.5 percent (25-40) from the floor. Howe has been a terror from beyond the arc for opponents during the stretch, shooting 16-25 (64.0 percent), knocking down at least four threes in each game.
Howe teamed up with Jamerka Martin (Milwaukee, WI/Rufus King) to shoot 10-14 from three-point range against the Tritons. Five of those three-point shots came from the hand of Ashley Salgado (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa) who recorded her second career double-double, finishing the night with 11 assists, matching her career-high, and 10 points. Courtney Williams-Perry (Milwaukee, WI/Bradley Tech) registered her sixth-straight double-digit rebounding game with a game-high 13 boards.
Martin and Howe combined to score the first 23 points of the game for the Tigers, including three three-point shots from Martin and two from Howe. The Tigers held a 26-23 lead with 7:17 to play, but the Tritons went on a 15-7 run to close out the first half and went into the locker room with a 38-33 edge.
Early on in the second half, Martin drained two free throws to pull MCC within two, 40-38, but the Tritons hit two quick threes of their own to regain a comfortable lead. Howe, who had been held scoreless for the first 6:36 of the half, broke free as Salgado found the freshman for back-to-back threes and pull MCC within one.
Mackenzie Gott (Oskaloosa, IA/Oskaloosa), playing in her first game since suffering an injury on Jan. 15, knocked down a jumper while Howe scored eight straight for MCC, including a three to put the Tigers up 56-53. Howe's final three came at the 1:45 mark, on another assist from Salgado, to tie the game at 66. Williams-Perry beat the shot clock on the next trip down to put the Tigers up 68-66 and MCC hit four free throws in the final minute to secure the win.
"The team responded well tonight," said head coach Steve Garber. "We played with confidence and as a result we responded well offensively tonight on our home court compared to our last meeting with Iowa Central. A win like this builds confidence for our players."
Howe currently ranks fourth in the ICCAC with 16.3 points per game and second with a 40.0 percent mark from beyond the arc. Salgado's assist total boosted her average to 5.6 per game to remain atop the leaderboard while Williams-Perry ranks second with 10.6 rebounds per contest.
The Tigers, who received votes in Wednesday's NJCAA Division II poll, remain in fourth place in the ICCAC with a 7-3 record. Iowa Central fell to 7-3 with the loss, but holds the tiebreaker over MCC.
The Tigers will look to avenge another loss from earlier in the season against a nationally ranked foe on Saturday as MCC travels to No. 1 North Iowa Area Community College at 1:00 PM on Saturday. The Trojans defeated MCC 99-77 at the Student Activity Center on Jan. 4.
