Marshalltown, IA—A late second half surge from the Marshalltown Community College women's basketball team was not enough against Kirkwood Community College as the Eagles took a 65-51 nonconference win at the Student Activity Center. Jasmin Howe (Millicent, Australia/Millicent) scored a team-high 16 points in the loss.
Looking to avenge a 35-point loss from earlier in the year at Kirkwood (12-4), the Tigers (9-7) opened up play Wednesday struggling from the field. MCC recorded just five points in the first 14:13 of the game before Courtney Williams-Perry (Milwaukee, WI/Bradley Tech) converted a three-point play. The Eagles continued to limit the Tigers in the closing minutes and took a 30-16 lead into halftime.
Kirkwood built its lead to as much as 21 to open the second half. The Tigers finally found their shooting touch, putting together a 22-9 run, highlighted by five straight points from Birana McGinty (Milwaukee, WI/Bradley Tech) and capped by a three from Howe at the 3:40 mark to pull within nine, 56-47.
Costly turnovers down the stretch proved to ward off a further comeback from MCC as the Eagles, ranked No. 4 in this week's NJCAA Division II poll, held on for the win.
Williams-Perry produced another strong all-around performance, grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds to compliment nine points and three blocked shots.
The Tigers shot just 31.8 percent from the floor in the first half, but upped the ante to 46.2 percent in the second frame. MCC's shooting woes were prevalent from beyond the arc, hitting just four of 22 three-point shots.
Wednesday's game was the opener of MCC's four-game home stand. The Tigers take on Grand View JV at the Student Activity Center at 6:00 PM on Jan. 12.
