MASON CITY — The Southwestern Community College women’s basketball team had one stretch at the end of the first quarter here Wednesday that cost the Spartans in a 69-57 loss to NIACC.
The Spartans competed much better with the Trojans than they did in a 97-53 home loss on Jan. 13.
Both teams got out to a slow start, with the score stuck on 4-2 for several minutes in the first quarter.
But Southwestern had a drought at the end of the first quarter, that allowed NIACC to stretch its lead to 14-5.
“I think we were pretty solid defensively to start the game,” Southwestern head coach Addae Houston said. “Unfortunately right at the tail end of that first quarter, they went on a run. We did battle back in the second quarter.”
Southwestern trailed by just seven points (32-25) at halftime and kept the deficit within about 10 points for much of the second half.
“We never could do enough to get over the hump,” Houston said. “We never could force enough turnovers. We tried to mix some things up defensively to keep them off balance. They had a lot of good shooters. They lead the nation in 3-pointers made and attempted, so it was going to be difficult. They made some good, tough shots. We didn’t make enough stops and score enough on our own end to close the gap.”
Julanie Carter led three Spartans in double figures with 16 points, while LaStella Slack scored 11 points and Olivia Reifert ended with a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The drought in the first quarter proved to be the difference.
“We can’t have those stretches,” Houston said. “It’s like we’re constantly battling and fighting to get the score back to a tie. That’s just taxing. We’re battling from behind all the time. That’s not productive for us. We need to be able to get some stops in a close game.”
Southwestern, 7-14 overall and 1-8 in the ICCAC Division II, travels to Kirkwood on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game, before hosting Ellsworth at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
NIACC (69) — Trudy Peterson 4-14 2-2 14, Savannah Lentz 4-13 2-2 13, Sammie Sproul 4-8 2-4 12, Courtney Larson 4-6 1-2 11, Anna Eckert 3-8 2-2 8, Sam Adamich 3-8 0-0 6, Mary Evans 1-2 0-0 2. Totals — 24-68 9-12 69. FG shooting — 24-68 (35.3 percent). 3-point goals — 12-42 (Peterson 4, Lentz 3, Sproul 2, Larson 2, Galvin 1). Rebounds — 35. Assists — 17. Steals — 10. Blocked shots — 1. Turnovers — 20. Team fouls — 20. Fouled out — none.
SOUTHWESTERN (57) — Julanie Carter 5-17 2-2 16, LaStella Slack 4-6 3-4 11, Olivia Reifert 3-6 4-7 10, Cambry Schluter 2-7 0-0 6, Khadijah Wilson 2-3 0-0 4, Sabrina Fountain 0-2 4-6 4, Maleika Carter 2-2 0-0 4, Chelsi Sams 1-3 0-0 2. Totals — 19-49 13-19 57. FG shooting — 19-49 (38.8 percent). 3-point goals — 6-21 (J. Carter 4, Schluter 2). Rebounds — 41 (Reifert 12, J. Carter 5, Fountain 5, Slack 3, Lexi Bronner 3). Assists — 12 (M. Carter 4, J. Carter 2, Slack 2, Wilson 2, Fountain 2). Steals — 8 (J. Carter 2, Reifert 2). Blocked shots — 1 (Slack 1). Turnovers — 30. Team fouls — 14. Fouled out — M. Carter.