Marshalltown, IA—A last second shot came up short for the Marshalltown Community College women's basketball team, handing the visiting Ellsworth Community College Panthers a narrow 71-68 victory at the Student Activity Center on Tuesday night.
Freshman Sarah Kavanh (Marengo, IA/Iowa Valley) drained a three-point shot with five seconds to play in the fourth quarter to pull MCC within two, 70-68. After a free throw from the Panthers, the Tigers had one attempt to send the game into overtime. The final inbounds pass was knocked around in the MCC offensive end and wound up in the hands of Kavanh once again, but the freshman's shot fell short as the Panthers walked away with a win.
Freshman Loralei Siliga (Euless, TX/San Leandro), this week's Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Player of the Week, scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed four rebounds. Claudia Morente (Girona, Spain/Institut Juame Vicens Vives) chipped in 13 points, seven assists, and four rebounds while turning the ball over just once. Alyssa Roth (Clinton, IA/Northeast) scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
LORALEI SILIGA EARNS PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
The two sides played to an even 12-12 draw after the first quarter, but the Panthers pulled away in the second, taking a 32-25 lead at halftime. MCC trailed by as many as 10 in the third quarter, but a 7-2 run in the closing minute brought MCC back within five, 50-45 with one quarter to play.
Siliga opened up the fourth quarter with a three-point shot, but Ellsworth responded with an 8-0 run to regain a double-digit lead. Roth connected on a corner three to cut the deficit to five, 66-61 with under two minutes remaining. Kavanh's three with five seconds left gave the Tigers a final shot, but to no avail.
The Tigers connected on seven total three-point shots on the night and shot 45.0 percent overall from the floor.
MCC heads to West Burlington for a 1:00 PM matchup against Southeastern Community College on Saturday afternoon.
