Marshalltown, IA—Backed by a career-night from sophomore Mackenzie Gott (Oskaloosa, IA/Oskaloosa), the Marshalltown Community College women's basketball team held off Central College JV on Monday night, dropping the Dutch 77-68. Gott finished with a career-high 26 points and tied a career-high with 14 rebounds.
Gott produced just seven points in the first half but carried the Tigers in the second half, primarily down the stretch. With MCC leading by just four points with under seven minutes to play, Ashley Salgado (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa) found Gott down low who converted a layup and was fouled on the play. Gott sank the free throw to put the Tigers up by seven.
The Dutch were able to cut their deficit down to four with under four minutes to play, but once again Gott was there to pick the Tigers back up, hitting a jumper on another assist from Salgado. MCC held Central JV to just four points in the final 2:56 to take the victory.
Gott's previous career-high was 23 points against Southwestern Community College last season. This is the sixth time Gott has grabbed 14 rebounds in a game. The sophomore also blocked two shots in 37 minutes of action. Salgado tied a career-high with eight rebounds and dished out five assists for the third straight game. Jasmin Howe (Millicent, Australia/Australia) scored 10 points in each half to record at least 20 points in a game for the second time this season.
Howe and Gott combined to score the first 10 points of the game for MCC as the Tigers held a 10-8 lead at the 13:38 mark. Central JV regained the lead but back-to-back three-point shots from Jamerka Martin (Milwaukee, WI/Rufus King) and Kaleigh Sieck (Toledo, IA/South Tama) put MCC back on top 18-13.
MCC was able to hold its lead until a Dutch jumper tied the game at 26 but Sieck answered right back with her second three of the game. Just over a minute later, Sieck gave the Tigers their largest lead of the half with another three, putting MCC up 34-26. MCC closed out the half leading 37-28.
Sieck's hot streak continued as the freshman hit a fourth shot from beyond the arc to open the second half. MCC built its lead to 12 only to see the Dutch storm back midway through the second half. Gott's dominance late in the game proved to be the difference for the Tigers as the sophomore scored nine points in the final seven minutes of play, helping MCC improve to 4-1 on the year.
MCC hit all 11 of its free throws in the second half and finished the game 16-18 at the charity stripe while the Dutch hit just 11-18. The Tiger defense held its opponent to just 20.8 percent (5-24) from three point range. Sieck led the way for the Tigers from long range, shooting 50 percent from deep.
After playing three games in the last four days the Tigers will welcome a week-long break until they host North Central Missouri College at 5:00 PM on Nov. 26
