Vikings out of MCC’s reach
Grand View JV feasts on Tigers’ slow start in season opener
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Marshalltown Community College freshman guard Jalen Shaw (4) draws the blocking foul against Grand View University defender Sydney Crampton (15) during the second half of Sunday’s basketball game at the Student Activity Center.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - MCC sophomore Ekin Taciroglu (32) battles for a rebound with Grand View’s Regan Rice during the second half of Sunday’s game in Marshalltown. Taciroglu led MCC with 14 points.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Marshalltown Community College freshman guard Jalen Shaw (4) draws the blocking foul against Grand View University defender Sydney Crampton (15) during the second half of Sunday’s basketball game at the Student Activity Center.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - MCC sophomore Ekin Taciroglu (32) battles for a rebound with Grand View’s Regan Rice during the second half of Sunday’s game in Marshalltown. Taciroglu led MCC with 14 points.
Trending
The Marshalltown Community College women's basketball team scored less than 15 seconds into the new season, and then not again for the next eight minutes.
The new-look Tigers quickly learned just how costly that can be.
The MCC women played the Grand View University's junior varsity squad virtually even the rest of the way and fell 70-55 in Sunday afternoon's season debut.
After falling behind by 17 through the first quarter, the Tigers never again got closer than eight.
As discouraging as the frigid first quarter was, first-year head coach Dylan Longley left the Student Activity Center with plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
"I think we came out and the moment was a little too big for us," Longley said. "I think we've got a lot of talent on our team, but we're still trying to figure each other out."
Things obviously improved for MCC after the opening stanza, but that early deficit was too deep of a hole to dig out of. After Ekin Taciroglu scored a spinning left-handed layup, the Tigers went without a point for the next eight minutes and trailed 15-2. Mia Sao-Martinez made a pair of free throws with 1:45 left in the period, but the visiting Vikings scored the final six points of the quarter for a 21-4 advantage.
MCC fired out of the intermission on an 11-2 run to get within 23-15. A 3-pointer by Reyna Edwards was the spark MCC needed, but Grand View countered with back-to-back triples by Grace Schisel.
The Vikings made nine 3-pointers, in fact, in the season-opening contest.
"I think we just had some breakdowns defensively," Longley said. "The first half we were a little anxious. We were doing things that we're not accustomed to doing in practice, whether it was turning the ball over, not sprinting back on defense or not boxing out. Those things are so important in the game of basketball and we didn't do those things today.
"We were in a zone to start and teams can shoot you out of a zone, but I think I got to a point where I was like, 'hey, we're just gonna play fast and we're going to pressure them' and I think that got [Grand View] a little outside of their comfort zone. I mean, we played them pretty much even quarters two through four."
Grand View outscored MCC 10-2 over the final 4:25 of the first half and led 39-20 at the break. It was a back-and-forth affair the rest of the way, until the Tigers tallied the final seven points of the game.
Taciroglu led MCC with 14 points and Tarah Campbell added 12 off the bench. Campbell's defense at the front of the Tigers' full-court pressure provided extra opportunities for the team to make its comeback, but it wasn't enough to offset 20 turnovers and 14-for-29 free-throw shooting.
Jalen Shaw contributed seven points, Paris Southern had six, and Edwards and Sao-Martinez added five points each.
Schisel led Grand View with 18 points, making four 3-pointers, and Annamarie Aue added 11 points. Faith Elmore finished with 10 points and Sydney Crampton added nine.
Last season, Grand View's JV squad beat the MCC women 104-44. Longley said that even though none of the players on his roster were around for that lopsided loss, he's opened up MCC's past just the same.
"I've told them what it was before, so our motto is 'leave your mark' and we really believe in that," he said. "We want to do something special here that no one's ever seen before. They haven't had a 20-win season in I think 10 years, so we want to do something that's just different.
"We would love to have the community's support, but I think when we really get going by the Emerson Classic, we'll be at our best by then. We have a chance to knock off some top teams coming up here that I think will open some eyes. Once we get our full roster back things will look a lot different."
Grand View JV 70, MCC 55
GRAND VIEW JV -- Faith Elmore 4 2-3 10, Regan Rice 2 0-0 6, Marissa Albright 3 0-0 6, Grace Schisel 5 4-4 18, Annamarie Aue 5 1-1 11, Tara Wills 1 2-2 4, Sydney Crampton 3 1-2 9, Claire LaDage 2 1-1 6, Hannah Oleson 0 0-2 0. TOTALS 25 11-15 70.
MCC (0-1) -- Jalen Shaw 3 1-5 7, Reyna Edwards 1 2-2 5, Nyajah Orr 1 1-2 3, Mia Sao-Martinez 1 2-2 5, Ekin Taciroglu 6 0-0 14, Tarah Campbell 5 2-8 12, Paris Southern 1 3-4 6, Jada Walton 0 0-0 0, Abby Rivera 0 0-2 0, Abigail Gradwell 0 3-4 3. TOTALS 18 14-29 55.
GRAND VIEW 21 18 15 16 -- 70
MCC 4 16 18 17 -- 55
3-Point Goals--GVU 9 (Schisel 4, Rice 2, Crampton 2, LaDage), MCC 4 (Taciroglu 2, Edwards, Sao-Martinez). Total Fouls--GVU 19, MCC 21. Fouled out--Southern.