Iowa Falls, IA—JeAnn Hiraldo (Ames, IA/Ames) recorded her fifth double-double and fifth 20-point game of the season on Tuesday night to carry the Marshalltown Community College Women's Basketball team to a 54-52 overtime victory at Ellsworth Community College. Hiraldo scored 25 points to go with 18 rebounds.
The Tigers provided a defensive stance in the overtime period, allowing just three points in the five minute session to secure the win as MCC improved to 4-4 on the year. Cassie Cullen (Ankeny, IA/Lynnville-Sully) eclipsed her career-high for the second straight game with 17 points and collected seven rebounds in the win. Cullen and Hiraldo combined to block seven of the team's 10 shots on the night.
Tuesday's low-scoring affair saw the Panthers take a 14-12 lead through the first quarter, and doubled their lead at halftime with a 26-22 advantage. The Tiger offense opened up to start the second half as Hiraldo connected on a corner three and Cullen put back her own miss to give MCC its first lead of the night, 29-26 with 6:34 to play in the third quarter. The Tigers outscored Ellsworth 14-11 in the frame, but trailed 37-36 heading into the final quarter.
Tied at 38 early on in the fourth, Cullen converted a three-point play to break the deadlock, but the Panthers battled back and eventually took a 47-45 lead. Hiraldo's strong second half continued as the sophomore sank a jumper to tie the game once again. Hiraldo went 1-2 at the line with 17 seconds left for a 49-48 lead, but the Panthers managed to make one of two free throws as well in the closing seconds to force overtime. Hiraldo's last-second shot at the end of regulation bounced off the back of the rim.
After nearly two minutes of scoreless basketball, Cullen provided the first points of the extra session with a spin-move in the post. Accacia Huff (Peoria, IL/Central) hit two free throws to extend the lead and Hiraldo closed out the night with one final free throw to lead MCC to the win.
As a team, the Tigers went 20-25 (80.0 percent) from the free throw line. Hiraldo finished the night 10-12 at the stripe while Cullen made 5-7. Over the Tigers' previous two games, MCC has shot 38-46 (82.6) from the charity line.
The Tigers head to the Baymont Inn Turkey Classic in Keokuk, IA, hosted by Southeastern Community College this weekend. MCC will take on Jefferson College at 6:00 PM and Southeastern at 3:00 PM on Saturday.
