Marshalltown, IA— A late push from the Marshalltown Community College women's basketball team fell short as the Tigers dropped a 99-77 decision at home to No. 1 North Iowa Area Community College on Saturday afternoon. MCC has now suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season.
Courtney Williams-Perry provided a career night in the losing effort as the freshman scored a personal best 11 points and pulled down 19 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass. Williams-Perry had 12 rebounds in the first half before an injury sidelined her for the final minutes of the half. Jamerka Martin (Milwaukee, WI/Rufus King) also reached a career-high with 21 points on the night. The freshman hit 5-10 from three-point range.
The Tigers' (10-3, 1-2) primary contribution to the defeat was a season-high 37 turnovers. NIACC's full-court pressure proved to be too much for MCC as the Trojans grabbed 17 steals while committing just 11 turnovers.
NIACC (14-1, 3-0), ranked atop the latest NJCAA Division II poll, opened the game with an 8-2 lead until Jasmin Howe (Millicent, Australia/Millicent) came off the bench to score five straight points for the Tigers, including her first three-point shot of the game. The Trojans responded with an 8-0 run of their own, only to see Howe knock down another three to end the spurt. NIACC knocked down three three-point shots in the first eight minutes of the game to build a double-digit lead.
With 2:44 remaining, Mackenzie Gott (Oskaloosa, IA/Oskaloosa) knocked down a pair of free throws and on the team's next possession found a streaking Ashley Salgado (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa) who converted a three-point play, cutting NIACC's lead to 40-34. NIACC scored four points in the final 20 seconds to take a 46-36 lead into halftime.
Williams-Perry and Martin combined to score the first 10 points of the second half for MCC and at the 15:01 mark Martin knocked down a three-point shot to bring the game to within five at 56-51. The Tigers then went cold for the next five minutes as MCC failed to hit a field goal. Rusty Henio (Tama, IA/Pine Hill) hit a layup and a pair of free throws on back-to-back possessions to cut the deficit to single digits, but the Trojans went on a 20-10 run over the final seven minutes to close out the game.
The Trojans entered the game averaging 101.2 points per game. MCC dominated the rebounding battle thanks to Williams-Perry's performance. MCC outrebounded the Trojans 49-31.
Howe finished the game with 17 points, but foul trouble limited her in the second frame. Salgado, the conference leader in assists per game, posted nine assists on the day to boost her average to 5.8 per game. Kaleigh Sieck (Toledo, IA/South Tama) went 4-4 from the free throw line to extend her streak to 20 consecutive makes from the charity stripe. The freshman's 89.5 percentage ranks third in the country while Howe ranks second with a 90.0 percentage.
The Tigers continue its tough conference slate to open the new year as MCC travels to No. 2 Kirkwood for a 5:30 PM showdown on Jan. 8.
