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The Southwestern women lost to North Iowa Area Community College on Saturday, falling 113-92. The loss drops the Spartans to .500 on the season, falling to 6-6 an 0-2 in conference play.
The Spartans got out of the gate shooting well, holding a 10-point lead over the Trojans thanks to 10 points by Tina Lair-Van Meter in the first quarter.
The lead would soon vanish, as the Spartans struggled to stop a physical Trojans offense.
“We tried to tighten our defense a little bit,” said coach Bryan Austin. “ We tried to take advantage of mismatches.”
The mismatches turned into mistakes on offense, with turnovers early in the game causing the offense to play catchup for three quarters.
The Spartans showed some life in the third with consecutive shots made by Vanessa Romo and Kierra Brice, but the momentum was stopped by the physical play of the Trojans.
Despite the two having the hot hand, Romo’s involvment didn’t change in the offensive plans, coming out of the half.
“She gets her shots in the game and with our flow of the offense,” said Austin. “It wasn’t trying to get her the ball more, it was to keep playing the game and she (Romo) will get hers.”
Interior defense was a glaring problem for the Spartans in the last quarter, surrendering seven interior scores as the defecit grew.
“It’ll be worked on in practice and going into the future,” said Austin about giving up interior baskets.
The Trojans’ Mandy Willems lead the game in scoring with 36 points, including an impressive nine 3-point shots, four of which game in the last quarter.
UP NEXT – The Spartans look to improve and keep their brand of basketball as they head into their next matchup on the road to face Highland Wednesday.
“We have to play our game, as always,” said Austin. “We put up 92 points, that’s the first time we’ve done that in a long time. We’ll be all right.”
NIACC (113) — 17 29 23 40
SWCC (92) — 27 15 27 23
NORTH IOWA AREA (FG FT PTS) — Totals —21 14-21 59. Willems 12 3-4 36, Buford 9 2-3 22, Campbell 4 6-9 15, Hale 3 1-2, Lonos 1 3-4. 3-point goals (15) — Willems 9. Team fouls — 29. Fouled out — None.
SOUTHWESTERN (FG FT PTS) — Totals — 36 7-14 93. Romo 4 6-6 18, Lair-VanMeter 8 0-0 16, Brice 4 6-6 14, Jasmine Aviles 4 5-6 13, Madelyn Moya 3 4-4 11. 3-point goals (6) — Romo (4). Team fouls — 28. Fouled out — None.