March 29, 2024

SWCC pulls away late over DMACC

Spartan women win guarantees playoff basketball at Southwestern for first time since 2009 season

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The Southwestern women locked up home court advantage in the playoffs Wednesday night, winning over Des Moines Area 81-69.

The win for the Spartans makes it six in a row and bumps them up into third place in the ICCAC Div. II standings at 14-14 (9-6). It is the first time Southwestern will play postseason women’s basketball in its gym since 2009 and is the first home playoff basketball game for the women in program history under the postseason’s new format.

A momentous occasion for second-year head coach Bryan Austin, Austin attributed the progress of the program and the successes from this season to hard work on and off the court.

“It’s [a sign of] the hard work,” said Austin. “We played a tough schedule and it’s starting to pay off a little bit. The hard work, the grind, ... they’re paying attention and putting in the good work.”

When asked if the Spartans were conscious of how well they were playing, Austin said the team has been taking it on a game-by-game basis with a goal ahead of them.

“We try to just go in and take it one game at a time,” said Austin. “Let the wins stack up and take it one game at a time. They realize we’re going to host a playoff game, ... they know what’s going on, but still are keeping the goal and the vision ahead of them for what they want to accomplish.”

Southwestern next takes on North Iowa Area Saturday at 1 p.m. in Mason City. The first round of the Div. II Region XI playoffs will start the following week. Opponents are TBD.

A game of runs

Both offenses were slow moving in the first minutes of the contest Wednesday night, but Southwestern jumped ahead of DMACC with a methodical 9-3 stretch to take the lead at 11-8.

The Spartans had the difference pull back even at 20-20 off a 3-pointer from DMACC’s Asia Mensa.

DMACC eventually took the lead at 27-26 off a triple from Mensa, but Southwestern caught fire in the final 3:10 of the half.

Southwestern outscored the Bears 11-2, closing the half with a 3-pointer by Whynter Waterhouse-Brennan to make it 39-29.

Coming out of halftime, Southwestern struggled. DMACC crept back into the contest, making it a tie game at 50-50 on a 11-2 stretch.

The score tied up once more at 52-52, but a go-ahead three from Willis gave Southwestern the advantage.

The Spartans didn’t show signs of struggle despite squandering a 10-point lead. Austin reassured the ladies basketball is a game of runs, and there was no need to panic when the score drew close.

“We talk about basketball being a game of runs. It was like ‘hey, we just need to buckle down, do what we need to do, score and then go play defense,’” said Austin. “We got beat on the backdoor one too may times and we had to buckle down and pay attention on that.”

DMACC’s Hannah McKinney swished a three to make it 60-64, but the score came in the midst of a 16-3 run as Southwestern hauled off with the win on timely triples from Sam Hagadorn and Brielle Baker.

Hagedorn, who hit back-to-back threes to make it 64-57 and Baker, who had crucial insurance scores following McKinney’s score, both played crucial roles in locking up a win after struggles early.

“Sam, she struggled early on shooting it and I knew she was going to come out of that slump,” said Austin. “She’s been hitting some great shots for us and Brielle is just Brielle. She’s going to come through and get her buckets. She struggled early, so I knew she was going to get hers.”

Hagedorn finished with 12 points, going 5 of 12 from the field. Baker scored 10.

Simone Jordan led the Spartans in scoring with 22 points and 10 rebounds, a double-double. Kaylynn Tucker had 11 assists.

Southwestern 81, Des Moines Area 69

DMACC (69) — 12 17 26 14

SWCC (81) — 18 21 19 23

DES MOINES AREA (FG FT PTS) — Totals —25 10-17 69. Riley Gatton 8 2-5 20, Hannah McKinney 5 3-4 17, Asia Mensa 3 0-0 7, Taelor Lessmeier 1 4-4 6, Katelyn Courtney 3 0-0 6 . 3-point goals – 9 (McKinney 4). Team fouls — 20. Fouled out — Lessmeier.

SOUTHWESTERN (FG FT PTS) — Totals — 31 12-20 81. Simone Jordan 10 2-8 22, Whyter Waterhouse-Brennan 4 4-4 14, Sam Hagedorn 5 0-0 12, Kayela Willis 4 1-2 11, Brielle Baker 3 3-4 10, Eden Billups-Campbell 3 2-2 8, Kaylnn Tucker 2 0-0 4. FG shooting — 17-34 (50 percent). 3-point goals — 7 (Waterhouse-Brennen 2, Hagedorn 2, Willis 2). Rebounds — 52 (Jordan 10, Baker 8, Hagedorn 7). Assists — 22 (Tucker 11). Steals — 5 (Jordan 3). Blocked shots — 1. Turnovers — 16. Team fouls — 16. Fouled out — None.