By Marissa VanWingen, The Times-Citizen
Marshalltown, IA – Despite a few ugly stretches, Ellsworth Community College able to survive and pull away for the 71-48 victory over their rivals, Marshalltown Community College.
The visitors built a 10-point advantage (22-10) after the opening quarter. KeyKey Jefferson hit one three in the first quarter and two in the second, tallying 11 of her 14 points. One of four triples jumpstarted an 8-0 run by ECC (21-5, 12-4). They looked to be running away with the win before the Tigers closed the gap and ended the half on a 15-2 spree and cut the deficit to just five (32-27).
The lead was just two (34-32), but luckily the Tigers (13-14, 4-12) could not sink their free throws and never evened the score. Jefferson drained her final three-ball with 2:48 left in the stanza as the Panthers went on a 11-3 run to end the period on top by double digits again.
In the fourth period, Laia Santanach got hot from deep and hit two long balls. Already with a big lead, the baskets really started to flow for the visitors.
Ella Sharar led all scoring with 20 points. Jefferson had a season-high 14 points and Santanach added 10. Favour Anyaele finished with a double-double of 14 rebounds and 10 points. ECC did a good job of nabbing rebounds, grabbing 43 to MCC's 20.
The Panthers next ICCAC game is Saturday against ninth-place Southwestern and then they travel to Northeast (18-7, 10-5) to close out the regular season.
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