NORFOLK, Neb. — The Marshalltown Community College women’s basketball team used the element of surprise to take an early lead on Northeast CC in Wednesday’s NJCAA Region XI first-round pairing.

Once the initial shock wore off, the host Hawks had the upper hand.

Northeast outscored MCC 28-7 in the second quarter, including the last 12 points of the first half, to advance to Saturday’s regional final with a 74-40 victory over the Tigers inside the Cox Activities Center.

Four Northeast starters scored in double figures and the Hawks (27-3) defeated the Tigers (8-22) for the third time in as many meetings this season. This, however, was the closest of the three games after Northeast swept the two Iowa Community College Athletic Conference contests by a combined 90 points.

Northeast will meet top-seeded Iowa Western (17-10) in Saturday’s 5 p.m. Region XI final in Council Bluffs.

MCC sophomore Dana Stokes scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Tigers, going 8-for-15 from the field to go along with five rebounds and five assists but eight of the team’s 24 turnovers.

Eva Carballo and Nuria Castillo chipped in six points apiece, and Laurin Lyons added five points and six boards.

The Tigers jumped out to a 16-12 lead after the first quarter, leading by as many as eight in the opening stanza. Northeast answered in the second period and pulled away from there.

Kyla Moore and Emina Hadzihusejnovic had 16 points apiece to lead the Hawks, Breanna Stouffer had 13 points and Beth Matas added 10.

The Tigers closed with their fifth-straight losing season since moving from NJCAA Division II to D-I.

Northeast CC 74, Marshalltown CC 40

At Norfolk, Neb.

MCC (8-22) — Smith 1-3 0-0 2, Stokes 8-15 1-2 17, Lyons 2-7 0-4 5, Zaragoza 1-6 0-0 2, Carballo 2-7 2-2 6, Egic 0-1 0-0 0, Ervin 1-6 0-1 2, Collado 0-1 0-0 0, Castillo 2-6 0-0 6. TOTALS 17-52 3-9 40.

NORTHEAST (27-3) — Matas 4-7 0-0 10, Hadzihusejnovic 6-8 2-2 16, Moore 4-11 6-6 16, Stouffer 4-7 2-3 13, Maxon 2-6 0-0 4, Kasik 0-2 0-0 0, Kleffner 0-1 0-0 0, Carbonell 2-9 0-0 6, Zagorac 0-1 1-2 1, Schwanebeck 0-0 0-0 0, Kulhanek 3-5 2-4 8. TOTALS 25-57 13-17 74.

MCC 16 7 11 6 — 40

NORTHEAST 12 28 21 13 — 74

3-Point Goals–MCC 3-14 (Castillo 2-5, Lyons 1-2, Smith 0-1, Collado 0-1, Stokes 0-2, Carballo 0-3), Northeast 11-26 (Stouffer 3-4, Hadzuhusejnovic 2-2, Mats 2-4, Moore 2-6, Carbonell 2-7, Maxon 0-1, Kulhanek 0-1). Rebounds–MCC 30 (Zaragoza 7), Northeast 38 (Maxon 9). Assists–MCC 12 (Smith, Carballo 4), Northeast 14 (Carbonell, Kulhanek 3). Total Fouls–MCC 16, Northeast 10. Fouled Out–none.