By: Emilie Jenson
Public Information Coordinator
After holding a slim second half lead, the Iowa Central women were unable to fight past DMACC here Saturday afternoon, falling 60-65 inside Hodges Fieldhouse.
The Bears quickly took a first quarter lead, keeping the Tritons scoreless for the first three minutes of the game and outscored the Tritons 18-7 in the first. The bears attacked quickly in the second, going up 20-7 and added another 10 points over the Tritons making the score 30-8 with 2:45 left in the first half. The Tritons made free throws to add 10 points in the second half, but trailed 32-18 at halftime.
In the third quarter, a run by the Tritons cut the Bears' lead to seven and Iowa Central continued to fight their way back, shooting three-pointers to come within three points with 3:30 to play.
A three-pointer by freshman Kaitlyn Tendal brought the Tritons with in two, followed by a three from Aleaha Pommer to give the Tritons their first lead of the game, 45-44. Free throws by Maggie Godfrey tied the game 46-46 and then brought Iowa Central up by one, 47-46 with just over three minutes remaining. A quick run by the Bears gave DMACC the lead back, 47-50, but was quickly answered with a score by Pommer to tie 50-50 and two by Emily Theiss to make the score 52-50. The Triton lead was cut short with three by the Bears, who then kept the lead for the remainder of the game.
The Tritons were led by Pommer with 19 points.
"Our team battled hard and just came up a little short. After the game, I reminded the group that sometimes it's just not your day," said Head Coach Sabah Dickerson. "We didn't shoot the ball particularly well, but we had 18 offensive rebounds to give ourselves some additional scoring opportunities. Maggie Godfrey, Tessa Grooms, and Emma Scurek really attacked the offensive glass for us. Aleaha Pommer made some aggressive moves to the rim to earn some free throws. We were using her momentum to get our press set up and executed. I am also proud that our team has reduced our team turnovers lately. Although we did come up short, we played with much better energy and focus in the second half."
The Triton women will be on the road Wednesday at Iowa Western in Council Bluffs and return to their home court Saturday for a non-conference game versus North Central Missouri.