By Marissa VanWingen

In front of a home crowd in the annual Dale Howard Classic, Ellsworth Community College recorded a knockout punch and win early against Jefferson College. The Panthers improved to 4-2 on the year with the 79-56 victory on Saturday.

In the first 10 minutes of the game, ECC built a seven point advantage and it was 20-13 after the opening quarter. The hosts continued to build on that spread in the second. After the Lady Vikings (2-2) got to within two possessions, the Panthers went on a 6-0 run to extend the lead to double figures and were on top 41-27 at the break.

Jumpstarting the second half, Addy Dennis drained a three-pointer and ECC went on another surge, scoring seven unanswered. The lead swelled to 19 on a triple from Sofia Berraquero Beltran (59-40).

The three balls continued to drop in the fourth quarter for the Panthers as they hit 10 in the game. Kana Nagashima led with three - including a rare four point play when she was fouled and made the free throw. She finished with 15 points for the hosts. Jefferson College was one of four from downtown.

Nagashima was one of four players in double digits scoring. Asia Beale turned in a double-double with a team-high 19 points and nabbed 11 rebounds. Inma Martinez (10) and Yaiza Soriano Balaguer (10). were also in double figures.

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Dale Howard Classic
Saturday at Iowa Falls

JC: 13| 14| 15| 14 - 56
ECC: 20| 21| 18| 20 - 79

ECC Scoring: Asia Beale 7 4-8 19; Kana Nagashima 5 2-2 15; Inma Martinez 3 3-3 10; Yaiza Soriano Balaguer 4 1-3 10; Claudia Sanz Dorange 3 2-2 8; Rosario Mera 2 2-2 7; Addy Dennis 1 1-2 4; Sofia Berraquero Beltran 1 0-0 3; Sare Celaya Urrutia 1 0-0 3.