The MCC women's basketball team celebrated their sophomores Thursday night when they hosted the Vikings of Grand View University. Sophomores Sarah Kavanh, Claudia Morente, Ryan Roberts, Alyssa Roth, and Loralei Siliga were all recognized prior to the game. The teams last home game of the season was action packed, going into overtime before the Vikings pulled away with a 70-64 victory.
The Tiger offense struggled early on, shooting 26% from the field in the second quarter and only 10% from the three-point arc. Sophomore Loralei Siliga, who has been a key figure in the Tiger offense this season, received two early fouls that left her on the bench for the majority of the first half. In her absence sophomore Sarah Kavanh stepped up with her best performance as a Tiger, shooting 11-22 from the field and 6-15 from the three-point arc for 28 points while grabbing 11 rebounds for her second double double of the season.
"When Sarah gets in a groove she can be very productive," stated Head Coach Steve Garber. "It was nice to see her hit some big shots for us and end her career at home with a big game."
The Tigers trailed most of the game until the final moments of the fourth quarter. Kavanh hit multiple shots in the closing minutes to get the Tigers to overtime. Fellow sophomores Alyssa Roth and Loralei Siliga each ended with eleven points while Roth grabbed seven rebounds and four assists. Maria Cruz Ucede added 4 points for the Tigers while grabbing 10 rebounds, and Claudia Morente ended the night with 8 points.
Grand View's Mackenzie Roberts had a big night for the Vikings, grabbing 10 rebounds, going 8-16 from the field and 4-8 from the three-point arc for 23 points. Casey Carr also had a productive night going 4-10 from the field and 8-11 for 16 points. Abbi Elis and Sadie Nymeyer ended with 11 and 10 points respectively.
The Tigers will be back in action Saturday, February 17 when they travel to Winnebago, Nebraska and take on the Warriors of Little Priest Tribal College. Saturday's matchup will be the third time the two teams will battle it out, the Tigers were able to get the best of the Warriors the two previous games winning 67-57 in November and74-57 in January. The game will be streamed live on the LPTC Athletics YouTube channel with links posted on MCC Athletics social media pages.
