Marshalltown, IA—Sophomore JeAnn Hiraldo (Ames, IA/Ames) record her sixth double-double of the season but was not enough as the Marshalltown Community College Women's Basketball team fell to the Southwestern Community College Spartans 61-52 at the Student Activity Center on Wednesday night.
Hiraldo poured in a team-high 18 points to go with 14 rebounds and six steals. Cassie Cullen (Ankeny, IA/Lynnville-Sully) contributed 12 points and Accacia Huff (Peoria IL/Central) came off the bench to grab 10 rebounds for the Tigers.
Wednesday's matchup proved to be a defensive battle early on. Victoria Pothast's (Melbourne, IA/West Marshall) three-pointer at the 5:51 mark of the first quarter tied the game at five. The Spartans managed to jump ahead and took a 14-9 lead through one quarter of action.
MCC (4-9) trailed by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, but a 12-1 run from the Tigers, highlighted by a pair of threes from Hiraldo, gave MCC a 25-24 lead. The two sides traded baskets the rest of the half, but it was Southwestern that took a 29-27 lead into the locker room.
The Spartans (6-5) slowly chipped away in the third quarter and never trailed. Hiraldo knocked down another three to pull the Tigers within four, 42-38, but Southwestern held a 44-39 lead entering the final frame.
The first 3:56 of play in the fourth went scoreless until Huff sank a jumper to bring MCC within three. The Spartans scored the next seven points to run away from the Tigers and held off any chance of a comeback from the home team.
MCC travels to Iowa Central Community College for a 1:00 PM matchup on Saturday afternoon.
