The MCC Women's Basketball team ended last week 1 and 3 and ended a 22-game losing streak dating back to last season. On November 16 the Tigers fell to the Simpson Storm JV Squad by a score of 82 to 57 and then would roll into the Emerson Classic on the 19th and 20th losing the Friday matchup to North Platte 75 to 55 and then cracking into the win column with a 65 to 56 win over Central CC.
Simpson JV – The Tiger Women found themselves trailing much of the contest as they could not seem to keep pace with the Storm who started with a 16-point lead after the first quarter and never looked back throughout. "When we are not hitting shots, and when we turn the ball over and do not rebound, we struggle to stay in games" commented Coach Freland.
The Tigers shot only 27 percent from the field and were out rebounded by a 56 to 28 margin giving up 19 offensive rebounds. The bright spots for the Tigers came in the form of freshman Keelie Eitel who finished the contest with 15 points and hitting 5 three pointers and returner Carla Dorta who finished with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals on the contest.
North Platte – The Tigers would then host the North Platte Knights in their first contest at the Emerson Classic and for the first three quarters it looked like the game would come down to the wire, that was until the Knights outscored the Tigers 32 to 16 in the fourth quarter.
"We felt like we had the right game plan heading into the contest, wanting to make them beat us from the perimeter. We did that through the first three quarters and in the fourth they started hitting shots," commented Freland.
The Knights would hit four of their six three pointers in the fourth quarter, as the lone bright spot for the Tigers was Dorta who would score six of her 12 points in the fourth, while also adding 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals. The Tigers again would get a good game from Eitel who scored 8 points and added 2 steals as well. It was Tylese Rosenberger who would be the unsung hero for the Tigers scoring a team high 14 points off the bench and adding 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals as well.
Central CC- It would be the second contest of the Emerson Classic that the Tiger Women would crack the win column and end a 22-game losing streak dating back to last season and giving Head Coach Cody Freland his first win as the Tiger's Coach.
The Tigers found themselves trailing at the half 39 to 27, and after the half it would be all Tigers as they outscored the Raiders 38 to 17 in the second half including holding the Raiders to 5 points in the 3rd quarter. It was the balanced 3-point attack for the Tigers that would help as Eitel had 6 made threes and Ianara Morbidoni added 5 threes that would help propel the Tigers.
Morbidoni would lead the Tiger's in scoring finishing off the contest with 23 points, while also adding 8 rebounds to go along with 3 assists and 1 block. Eitel would finish with 18 points on the contest and added 4 offensive rebounds. It would also be the defensive presence of the Tiger's two veteran players in Dorta and Carolina Rodriguez Sanchez that would be on display as Dorta recorded 6 steals and Rodriguez Sanchez who added 5. Rodriguez Sanchez also recorded a double-double adding 10 points and 13 rebounds to go along with 3 assists and 2 blocks. Dorta would finish the contest with 7 points and also chip in 6 rebounds and 5 assists as well. "I am so proud of this group and especially for our three returners as they have been on the full journey these last 22 straight loses and to see how ecstatic they were after the win showed we are going in the right direction and that our freshman are buying into it as well," stated Freland.
The Tiger women travel to #2 ranked Johnson County on the Saturday, Nov. 27 before returning home on the Monday, Nov. 29 to host Mount Mercy JV, before starting ICCAC conference play on Wednesday, Dec. 1.
