Marshalltown, IA—Sophomore JeAnn Hiraldo (Ames, IA/Ames) provided the best game of her career and freshman Barbara Araoz (Neuquen, Argentin/Maria Auxiliadota) hit a buzzer-beating layup to force overtime as the Marshalltown Community College Women's Basketball team won its season-opener 58-53 over William Penn JV on Tuesday night at the Student Activity Center.
Hiraldo, the lone returning sophomore for the Tigers, totaled 23 points and 19 rebounds, both career-highs. Hiraldo also blocked six shots and grabbed four steals to fill the stat sheet for the Tigers.
Despite the dominating performance from Hiraldo, the Tigers were unable to shake the Statesmen down the stretch. Maintaining an eight-point advantage after three quarters of play, the Tigers slowly saw their lead dwindle. William Penn opened up the fourth quarter with a quick 8-2 run to pull within three.
A three-point shot from Shyannon Wolf (Tama, IA/Meskwaki) was able to give the Tigers a 44-38 edge, but the Statesmen scored seven straight to take its first lead of the quarter at 45-44. Araoz made a running layup to put MCC ahead 46-45 only to see William Penn regain the lead on a layup. After a costly turnover by the Tigers, William Penn converted one of two free throws to go ahead by two. On the ensuing inbound, Araoz went the length of the court and used the backboard to tie the game at 48 just before the buzzer sounded.
Araoz continued her scoring effort to open the overtime period as the freshman hit another layup to tie the game at 50. Hiraldo scored the game's next four points and Araoz hit three of four free throws to close out the game for the Tigers.
Hiarldo's big night got started early as the sophomore scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots in the first quarter alone. By halftime, Hiraldo had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Araoz finished the night with 12 points, five rebounds, and five assists.
As a team the Tigers controlled the glass with a 53-47 advantage. Samuari Jones (Louisville, KY/Seneca) grabbed eight rebounds while Dalia Cantu (Monterrey, Mexico/ITESM Eugenio Garza La Guera) and Accacia Huff (Peoria, IL/Central) each pulled down seven. Shyannon Wolf knocked down two threes in the win.
The Tigers won each of the first three quarters with an 11-8 scoring edge in the first followed by a 12-9 advantage in the second and 13-11 in the third. The Statesmen's late push came in the closing quarter as William Penn shot 50.0 from the floor and outscored the Tigers 20-12, resulting in the overtime period.
The Tigers are off to Moberly, MO for the Moberly Area Community College Tournament on Nov. 6-7. The Tigers will take on St. Louis Community College at 1:00 PM on Friday and host Moberly Area at 5:00 PM on Saturday.
NOTE: The NJCAA made a rules change for the 2015-16 women's basketball season. All games will consist of four 10-minute quarters whereas previous years featured two 20-minute halves.
