March 29, 2024

Spartan women drop conference opener

The Southwestern Community College women’s basketball team dropped its opening conference matchup to Iowa Lakes Community College 74-65 Saturday.

A three-point game heading into the fourth quarter, the advantages that Iowa Lakes had attacked in the first three quarters were again the sticking point for the Lakers in victory.

Mia Wassink and Lemia Ntor-Ue of Iowa Lakes were able to make their marks down low against the Spartans. The two 5-10 centers scored 25 and 11 points respectively while combining to shoot over 60 percent from the floor.

The duo also kept the Spartans off the glass, combining for 17 rebounds.

“We struggled to defend their inside game. They have two good, solid post players,” said SWCC head coach Addae Houston. “They did a lot of damage to us on the inside.”

The Spartans did find some openings on the offensive end of the floor.

T’Keyah Stapleton and Jasmine Aviles posted 31 points combined and shot 50 percent from the field.

Keaundra Washington (11), Vanessa Romo (9) and Raevan Hayes (5) all knocked down a handful of baskets as well.

“We struggle at times to score the basketball. We go on streaks where we score,” said Houston. “In this game we actually shot the ball pretty well ... One positive with that is when we go through those lulls, at times our defense has stepped up and kept us in the game.”

UP NEXT – Southwestern, now 6-8 overall and 0-1 in conference travels to Iowa Central Wednesday to take on another conference foe sitting just under .500 on the year. The Tritons are 8-9 overall and 0-1 in the conference after losing to Kirkwood 72-47.

“We definitely have to keep this team under 70 points,” said Houston. “I think they’re definitely a team where we can go into their place and win, but we just got to be ready to execute.”

Running score by quarter

ILCC – 20 34 54 74

SWCC – 17 31 51 65

ILCC (FG FT PTS) – Totals – 25 15-20 74. Mia Wassink 11 3-5 25, Calynn Jackson 4 3-3 14, Lemia Ntor-Ue 3 5-8 11, Marissa Ruiz 4 0-0 11, Marisela Perez 3 1-1 10, Shai’anye Wesley 0 3-3 3. 3-point goals – 9 (Ruiz 3, Perez 3, Jackson 3). Rebounds – 30 (Wassink 10, Ntor-Ue 7, Jackson 5, Wesley 4, Perez 2, Simms 1, Ruiz 1). Assists – 22 (Perez 8, Jackson 5, Ruiz 3, Ntor-Ue 3, Wesley 2, Simms 1). Steals – 3 (Perez 1, Wassink 1, Jackson 1). Blocks – 5 (Wassink 4, Ntor-Ue 1). Team fouls – 5. Fouled out – None.

SWCC (FG FT PTS) – Totals – 26 6-8 65. T’Keyah Stapleton 7 2-4 16, Jasmine Aviles 6 3-3 15, Keaundra Washington 4 1-1 11, Vanessa Romo 3 0-0 9, Raeven Hayes 2 0-0 5, Tine Lair van-Meter 2 0-0 4, Fallyn Beemer 1 0-0 3, Kierra Brice 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals – 7 (Romo 3, Washington 2, Beemer 1, Hayes 1). Rebounds – 19 (Aviles 6, Lair van-Meter 3, Romo 3, Stapleton 3, Brice 2, Hayes 1, Washington 1). Assists – 10 (Beemer 4, Stapleton 3, Romo 2, Hayes 1). Steals – 7 (Stapleton 3, Romo 3, Lair van-Meter 1). Blocks – 1 (Beemer 1). Team fouls – 23. Fouled out – None.