T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - Marshalltown Community College freshman Eva Zaragoza (35) shoots over Iowa Central’s Aaliyah Hull during the first half of Saturday’s game inside the Student Activity Center.

The Marshalltown Community College Tigers women’s basketball team started out strong Saturday afternoon against Iowa Central.

A quick 7-0 run and a commitment to running the fast break caught the Tritons off guard — and looked as though it would allow the Tigers to sniff an upset in ICCAC conference play.

But the second quarter was exactly what the Tigers didn’t need to happen, as a cold spell offensively and well-run offense from Iowa Central pushed MCC aside 75-53.

After tying the game at 24 late in the second, the Tigers scored two points the rest of the half. The Tritons used a 13-2 run to take an 11-point lead into halftime after trailing by two through one quarter.

In the second quarter alone, the Tigers went 3-11 from the floor and missed all five 3-point attempts.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - Marshalltown Community College sophomore Marija Egic (1) battles for a rebound with Iowa Central’s K’Breonna Collins (50) and Kae’la Jackson, right, during Saturday’s game at the Student Activity Center at MCC.

MCC head coach Steve Garber said the team has had a problem this season dealing with setbacks in-game.

“We’re not a very tough team, mentally,” Garber said. “When things go wrong, we kinda just drop our heads. That’s just this group.

“Had a bad second quarter, came out flat in the third quarter and we picked it up in the fourth quarter — so we had a good half of a game.”

The second half began with a 13-0 Tritons run over the first five minutes, making it a 26-2 extended run for Iowa Central to open up a 50-26 lead. The Tigers continued to struggle to make shots and only hit 32.1 percent of their attempts all game long. In the second and third quarters, the Tigers totaled 15 points. They trailed 57-33 after three with the game out of reach.

The fourth quarter brought a new lineup and a full-court trapping press to the table for MCC, and the Tigers showed more aggressiveness with the ball. It was too little too late, Garber said.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

“Very up and down,” Garber said. “We don’t have much room for error, and when teams take advantage of it that drags us down a little bit.”

Still, the Tigers scored 20 points in the fourth and outscored the now-13-8 Tritons by two points. The final score was still a 22-point defeat, MCC’s 15th of the season.

Leading the Tigers in points was Laurin Lyons, who had 16 points on 5-for-17 shooting from the floor. Also in double figures were Dana Stokes (12 points) and Eva Zaragoza (10 points). Iowa Central was led by Isabell West, who scored a game-high 22 points and added five boards and five assists. Aaliyah Hull had 14 points and Jordan Engbrecht had 11. The Tritons controlled the glass, securing 34 rebounds to 23 for Marshalltown.

MCC has now lost five games in a row. The Tigers have two home games in the coming week, hosting DMACC on Monday and Iowa Western on Saturday in an ICCAC Division I showdown.

Iowa Central CC 75, Marshalltown CC 53

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

At Marshalltown

IOWA CENTRAL (13-8) — Cross 2-6 3-4 7, Cummings 3-13 0-0 9, Engbrecht 4-9 2-2 11, Hull 7-10 0-4 14, West 10-11 0-0 22, Jackson 3-6 0-0 8, Stephenson 1-2 0-0 2, Collins 1-3 0-0 2. TOTALS 31-59 5-10 75.

MCC (5-15) — Collado 3-7 1-2 9, Stokes 4-11 3-5 12, Lyons 5-17 5-6 16, Castillo 1-2 0-0 3, Zaragoza 4-10 2-2 10, Egic 0-0 0-0 0, Ervin 0-0 0-0 0, van Malsen 0-3 0-0 0, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Carballo 1-4 0-0 3. TOTALS 18-56 11-15 53.

IOWA CENTRAL 16 21 20 18 — 75

MCC 18 8 7 20 — 53

3-Point Goals–Iowa Central 8-24 (Cummings 3-13, West 2-2, Jackson 2-5, Engbrecht 1-4), MCC 6-22 (Collado 2-5, Castillo 1-2, Carballo 1-2, Stokes 1-5, Lyons 1-5, Zaragoza 0-1, van Malsen 0-1, Smith 0-1). Rebounds–Iowa Central 34 (Cross 8), MCC 23 (Lyons 9). Assists–Iowa Central 19 (three with 5), MCC 11 (three with 2). Total Fouls–Iowa Central 9, MCC 12. Fouled Out–van Malsen.