Marshalltown, IA—The Marshalltown Community College women's basketball team dropped its season-opening game to Southwestern Community College, 74-55 at the Student Activity Center on Saturday afternoon. Freshmen Estelle Eduardo (Villeurbanne, France/Lycee Ernest Couteaux) and Loralei Siliga (Euless, TX/San Leandro) both came off the bench to score 15 points each for MCC.
The Tigers got a majority of their scoring from the bench as a total of eight players contributed in the scoring column for MCC. Eduardo and Siliga combined to shoot 11-23 from the field, including five three-point shots from Eduardo. Sophomore Victoria Pothast (Melbourne, IA/West Marshall) added seven points and five rebounds for the Tigers.
The Spartans scored the first five points to open the day, but freshman Sarah Kavanh (Marengo, IA/Iowa Valey) drained her first-career three-point shot to get MCC on the board. Southwestern led by as many as 11 in the opening frame and took a 23-15 lead after the first quarter.
Despite a three-point shot from Pothast to open the second quarter, the Tigers fell behind quickly as the Spartans built a 42-25 advantage. MCC scored the final six points of the half to pull within 11, 42-31 at intermission.
MCC hit scoring drought in the third quarter, allowing the Spartans to build a 20-point lead at the end of the stanza, 57-37. Siliga scored her final 10 points of the game in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers managed to outrebound the Spartans 42-34, led by freshman Claudia Morente's (Girona, Spain/Institut Juame Vicens Vives) team-high six boards. Morente also led the Tigers with four assists on the afternoon.
The Tigers host the Meskwaki Classic next weekend along with the MCC men's basketball team. The Tigers will take on St. Louis Community College at 5:00 PM on Saturday.
