Nelson leads SWCC victory

Guard Cassidy Nelson of Lenox showed no ill effects of a knee injury earlier this season in leading Southwestern women to a 54-49 home victory over Southeastern Community College Wednesday night.

Nelson, a 5-6 redshirt sophomore, sat out some games in the pre-holiday portion of Southwestern’s schedule with a knee strain. Mikayla Hearon, a 6-2 redshirt freshman center, was held out for similar reasons in December.

Both were back on duty Wednesday and contributed to the victory that improved the Spartans to 4-2 in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference and 6-10 overall. Southeastern fell to 1-4 and 4-8.

“It’s great to have them back. Now we just have to find out how to get it all to mesh together,” said head coach Darian Wingate. “Cassidy’s experience really helps us on the floor. And Gracie (Hearon) is one of the best bigs in the league when she’s playing to her potential.”

Nelson sank 11 of 14 free throws and made one of the team’s five 3-pointers in scoring her game-high 26 points. Hearon scored seven points.

Brooklyn Hadl made two 3-pointers in contributing 10 points. Guard Shyla Moore, who has been Southwestern’s leader in several games this season and is the team’s defensive stopper, sat out several minutes in foul trouble before fouling out in the third quarter. She finished with five points.

“There were spurts where we did what we want to do,” Wingate said. “I saw execution on defense, securing rebounds so they don’t get extra opportunities. We also had more energy and communication on the defensive end. We wanted to keep them under 50 and we achieved that, but we still have to find ways to score more.”

The only injury situation on the team now is freshman guard Samair Colon, who showed 3-point shooting ability in the December portion of the schedule. Wingate said she was injured in the team’s weekend trip to Minnesota for non-conference games, but could return this weekend or next week.

Southwestern currently stands fifth in the 11-team ICCAC going into Saturday’s trip to Iowa Central, which is right behind at 2-3 in league play and 10-3 overall. It’s been a resurgence for a program that cancelled the 2022-23 season due to low numbers, coming off a 6-24 season the year before.

“Last year we didn’t have a season and we know it’s been awhile since we were contending to be in the top four of the conference,” Wingate said. “We’re trying to stay there. We still know there’s another level we can tap into. But the next five games are tough — Iowa Central on the road, DMACC, NIACC, Iowa Western and Kirkwood, which is No. 1 in the country. We’re excited. We want to compete. When we consistently play our game and execute, we’re really good. It’s when we kind of freelance and go off and do our own thing, that’s when we struggle.”

Road loss

Iowa Central defeated the Spartan women 78-69 in ICCAC action Saturday in Fort Dodge. Southwestern held a 20-18 advantage entering the second quarter, but the Tritons gradually pulled out to a seven-point advantage after three periods.

The Spartans remain in fifth place in the ICCAC at 4-3, and fell to 6-11 overall. Iowa Central moved closer to Southwestern in the league standings at 3-3, and improved to 11-3 overall.

Cassidy Nelson again led the Spartans with 21 points, five assists and six rebounds. Brooklyn Hadle contributed 19 points, inclduding five 3-pointers, and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Gabby Dwanyen finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Shyla Moore distributed five assits and scored eight points. Mikayla Hearon grabbed seven rebounds in scoring four points.

The Spartans host DMACC (5-1, 9-6) at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Bears survived a road challenge at 6-10 Ellsworth Saturday, winning 74-66.

SOUTHWESTERN (54) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 33 12-19 92. Cassidy Nelson 7 11-14 26, Brooklyn Hadl 3 2-2 10, Gracie Hearon 2 3-4 7, Sharmaine Tapling 1 3-6 6, Shyla Moore 1 2-2 5. 3-point goals — 5 (Hadl 2, Tapling 1, Moore 1, Nelson 1). Team fouls — 16. Fouled out — Moore, Dwanyen.

SOUTHEASTERN (49) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 16 13-22 49. Danajah Peterson 6 5-7 19, Princess Ibeh 4 4-8 12, Victoria Escribano 2 4-7 8, Chukdear Mach 2 0-0 4, Tataine Goncalves Pereira 1 0-0 3, Angel Maes 1 0-0 3. 3-point goals — 4 (Peterson 2, Goncalves 1, Maes 1). Team fouls — 21. Fouled out — None.