Marshalltown, IA—It was Sophomore Night at the Student Activity Center Monday night, but it was freshman Sammie Sproul (Waterloo, IA/Waterloo West) who carried the Marshalltown Community College women's basketball team to a 67-62 victory over Southeastern Community College. Sproul finished the night with 20 points on 8-14 shooting.
Sophomores Ilsie Calles (Van Nuys, CA/Fulton Prep), Jasmin Howe (Millicent, Australia/Millicent), Jamerka Martin (Milwaukee, WI/Rufus King), Kaleigh Sieck (Toledo, IA/South Tama), and Courtney Williams-Perry (Milwaukee, WI/Bradley Tech) were recognized prior to the start of Monday's game.
The Tigers led by as many as 16 in the first half, but the Blackhawks battled back to bring the game within two with 2:43 to play in the game. MCC did not allow a field goal the rest of the way as the Tigers snapped a three-game home losing streak.
Sproul filled the stat sheet on Wednesday, grabbing seven rebounds, corralling five rebounds, and collecting three steals to go along with her second-career 20-point game.
Howe finished the night with 13 points thanks to a 3-4 shooting night form three-point range while doling out five assists. JeAnn Hiraldo (Ames, IA/Ames) scored eight first half points and finished with 12 and a team-high eight rebounds. Martin knocked down three threes as well and finished with 11 points.
Sproul scored or assisted on the first eight points of the game for MCC, but the Blackhawks held a 13-8 advantage early on. The Tigers then went on a 16-0 run, sparked by a three from Sproul to pull ahead in the first half. MCC hit eight consecutive three-point shots to close out the half and took a 40-26 cushion into the locker room.
Sproul drained back-to-back three-point shots to put MCC up 48-33 in the opening minutes of the second frame. Howe nailed a three at the 14:38 mark to make it 11 straight from beyond the arc for the Tigers.
The Blackhawks slowly chipped away to bring the score to 61-59 in favor of the Tigers, but Martin showed her experience and came up with two critical steals to seal the victory for MCC.
The Tigers shot 80.0 percent from three-point range in the first half and finished the night with a season-best 64.7 clip from long-distance. MCC committed just 10 turnovers compared to 17 for the Blackhawks and outscored Southeastern 29-12 in the points off turnovers category.
The Tigers close out the regular season with a road game at Grand View JV at 7:00 PM on Feb. 19 before taking on Iowa Western Community College on the road in the first round of the Region XI Tournament on Feb. 25.
