:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/YBOYVQ2ZFRLJ2F7SSVQ6ZPBWYI.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/YQP5ESRZOF6FYGZIE5MXRYDAJI.jpg)
FORT DODGE – A tie game heading into the fourth quarter saw the Spartan women come out on the wrong end of a 85-74 final against Iowa Central Saturday.
SWCC tied things with a big third quarter in which they outscored the Tritons by 10, but SWCC head coach Bryan Austin thinks an injury put the Spartans minds elsewhere.
“We were playing pretty good basketball up until the end,” said Austin. “We had a little wind taken out of our sails. Paola Tavares went down right at the end of the third. ... She went down right in front of the bench.”
Tavares’ status moving forward was uncertain as of Monday, but Austin reported that she suffered a knee injury and they are hoping to know more in the coming days.
The Tritons put together 32 points in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.
“I think they wanted it just a little bit more than we did,” said Austin.
Madelyn Moya and C’Anne Hunter were the lone double digit scorers as Moya posted 30 points for SWCC and Hunter had 14.
Southwestern pulled down 18 offensive rebounds in the loss.
“We really dominated the offensive side of the boards,” said Austin.
For Southwestern, the remaining three conference games hold a lot of seeding implications for the regional tournament.
Southeastern (15-11, 5-7 in the ICCAC) awaits Wednesday, Iowa Lakes (20-7, 8-5) and Kirkwood (22-6, 12-1) will follow.
The Spartans lost to all three the first time around, but now sit tied with Iowa Central with four conference wins.
“When we’re on, the girls are really on,” said Austin. “If we can take care business, ... than we can be OK.”
Iowa Central 85, Southwestern 74
SWCC (74) — 13 12 28 21
ICCC (85) — 14 21 18 32
SWCC (FG FT PTS) — Totals — 26 15-24 74. Madelyn Moya 11 5-8 30, C’Anne Hunter 6 2-4 14, Vanessa Romo 3 0-0 8, Tina Lair-Van Meter 2 3-6 7, Paola Tavares 2 0-0 6, Simone Jordan 2 1-2 5, Kayela Willis 0 2-2 2, Kierra Brice 0 2-2 2. 3-point goals — 7 (Moya 3, Romo 2, Tavares 2). Rebounds – 43 (Moya 12, Hunter 10, Lair-Van Meter 5, Jordan 5). Assists – 11 (Hunter 4, Brice 3). Steals – 7 (Willis 2, Romo 2). Team fouls — 20. Fouled out — Lair-Van Meter.
No Iowa Central stats available as of Monday night.