Ranked Kirkwood teams sweep SWCC

Two nationally-ranked Kirkwood Community College teams cruised to conference road victories Thursday at Southwestern.

The Spartan men’s team had been on a recent hot streak, winning six of their nine games since returning from the holiday break. But the 14th-ranked Eagles took an 11-2 lead in the first five minutes and rolled from there to an 81-58 win.

The Eagles improved to 17-5 overall and 9-4 in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference. Ten different Eagles scored in a balanced attack, led by Manasse Kasongo’s 14 points. Kirkwood had a 38-19 rebounding advantage, led by Kasongo’s eight.

Point guard Niko Wilson had a good game for the Spartans, finishing with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, including three 3-pointers. Alec Belter provided 10 points. Justine De La Cruz grabbed five rebounds. Micah Hines had three of the team’s six steals.

Southwestern men fell to 8-14 overall and 4-9 in the ICCAC. On Saturday they traveled to Iowa Lakes (2-12, 0-12). Iowa Lakes won that matchup, 108-91, for its first conference victory.

The No. 7-ranked Kirkwood women bolted to a 33-6 lead in the first quarter on the way to Thursday’s 91-24 win over Southwestern. The Eagles led 65-10 at halftime, but Southwestern came out after the break and played an 8-8 quarter despite having only seven available players. Fatigue became a factor in the fourth quarter as Kirkwood outscored the Spartans 18-6.

Kirkwood, improving to 18-3 overall and 12-2 in the conference, was led by Bra’Ja Torry’s 11 points as five Eagles scored in double figures. Twelve players scored at least two points for Kirkwood.

Jaide McPhee led Southwestern with nine points, five rebounds and three assists. Maddie Richter added seven points and four rebounds. Kirkwood rangy zone defense, featuring the likes of 6-3 Dasia Foster of Oskaloosa, 6-0 Olivia Bailey of Des Moines and 6-3 Whitney Sullivan of Orangeville, Illinois, made it difficult for the Spartans to take high-percentage shots. Southwestern shot just 17.4% from the field (8-46) and 16.7% from 3-point range (4-24).

Kirkwood also had 31 points off turnovers, with 19 steals leading to a total of 25 Spartan turnovers. Kirkwood had only seven turnovers.

The Spartan women (4-18 overall, 0-14 ICCAC) faced another difficult challenge against one of the top conference teams on Saturday at Iowa Lakes (16-5, 12-2). Iowa Lakes won, 71-34.

Both Southwestern teams return home Wednesday to take on Central Community College (Nebraska) at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.

MEN’S GAME

SOUTHWESTERN (58) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 23 4-6 58. Niko Wilson9 1-2 22, Alec Belter 4 0-0 10, Micah Hines 3 2-2 8, Michael Smith 2 1-2 5, Justine De La Cruz 2 0-0 5, Theo Alexandersson Ohnell 2 0-0 5, Myles Opare 1 0-0 3. FG shooting — 23-61 (37.7 percent). 3-point goals — 8-28 (Wilson 3, Belter 2, De La Cruz 1, Opare 1, Ohnell 1). Rebounds — 19 (De La Cruz 5, Wilson 3, Hines 3). Assists — 11 (Luka Pecelj 3, Wilson 2). Steals — 6 (Hines 3, De La Cruz 2). Blocked shots — none. Turnovers — 14. Team fouls — 19. Fouled out — None.

KIRKWOOD (81) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 30 15-30 81. Manasse Kasongo 6 1-6 14, Richard Lindsey Jr. 4 4-6 12, Grayson Wollum 2 6-6 10, Ben Bockman 3 1-2 9, Cole Marsh 3 2-2 9, Kayvion Hodges 4 0-6 8, Chris Coleman 3 0-0 7, Yaris Irby 2 0-0 5, Landon Deiters 2 1-2 5, Jackson Lieurance 1 0-2 2. FG shooting — 30-69 (43.5 percent). 3-point goals — 6-29 (Bockman 2, Coleman 1, Kasongo 1, Marsh 1, Irby 1). Rebounds — 38 (Kasongo 8). Assists — 16 (Coleman 4). Steals — 7 (Coleman 2, Hodges 2). Blocked shots — 4 (Marsh 2). Turnovers — 14. Team fouls — 7 Fouled out — None.

WOMEN’S GAME

SOUTHWESTERN (24) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 8 4-4 24. Jaide McPhee 3 1-1 9, Maddie Richter 2 2-2 7, Malania Rodriguez 2 0-0 5, Tammy Scott 1 1-1 3. FG shooting — 8-46 (17.4 percent). 3-point goals — 4-24 (McPhee 2, Richter 1, Rodriguez 1). Rebounds — 19 (McPhee 5, Rodriguez 5, Richter 4, Hall 3). Assists — 3 (McPhee 3). Steals — 3 (Hall 2). Blocked shots — 1 (McPhee 1). Turnovers — 25. Team fouls — 12. Fouled out — None.

KIRKWOOD (91) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 37 11-13 91. Bra’Ja Torry 3 4-4 11, Whitney Sullivan 4 2-3 10, Molly Roling 4 1-1 10, Kaci Crum 4 2-2 10, Dasia Foster 5 0-0 10, Olivia Bailey 4 0-0 9, Kennedy Blakely 3 0-0 7, Reagan Celeste 3 1-1 7, Erianna Moeschter 3 0-0 6, Madison Stowater 2 1-1 6, Claire Hudson 1 0-0 3, Olivia Wren 1 0-1 2. FG shooting — 37-76 (48.7 percent). 3-point goals — 6-23 (Blakely 1, Torry 1, Hudson 1, Roling 1, Stoater 1, Bailey 1). Rebounds — 41 (Torry 6, Sullivan 6, Mosley 6). Assists — 28 (Torry 5, Mosley 5). Steals — 19 (Wren 4, Torry 4). Blocked shots — 4 (Sullivan 2). Turnovers — 7. Team fouls — 7. Fouled out — None.