Kinsley Bowie led MHS with 14 points. The Bobcats dropped to 4-6 overall, while the rival Little Cyclones climbed to 6-4.

Stuck in a 10-2 deficit after eight minutes, Marshalltown fought back behind nine points from Bowie to pull within 22-16 at the halftime horn.

“If we can play an entire game like that second quarter, we’re going to look like a different team,” MHS head coach Brian Murphy said. “It took us a while to adjust at the start, but we embraced it in the second quarter and really fought back.”

The turnovers continued to add up in the second half, however, and Ames cashed in better looks at the bucket to surge to a 40-24 lead after three quarters.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - Marshalltown junior forward Ellie Hughes (35) shoots over Ames defender Victoria Williams during the second half of Friday’s Iowa Alliance Conference basketball game at the Roundhouse.

The Bobcats finished with 39 turnovers, 16 of which came in the pivotal third quarter.

“When you’re unsuccessful for long enough at breaking their press, it just wears you down both physically and emotionally,” Murphy said. “I saw a dip after Ames got a couple transition buckets and that affected the way we were moving the ball.”

Millie Heitmann added four points and Jorja Janssen and Frankie Long had three points each. Long added three rebounds and three blocks.

Karsyn Pankonen led the Little Cyclones with 13 points, including seven in the second half. Ames has won the last four meetings between the two teams.

“When our offense is playing well, our defense looks amazing,” Murphy said. “That’s the challenge, then, of maintaining when you’re frustrated.”

The Bobcats play three next week, starting with a Monday game at Cedar Rapids Jefferson, a Tuesday tilt at winless Des Moines Hoover before coming back home against Waterloo East on Friday.

“We’ve got a lot of chances to keep learning and growing,” Murphy said. “That’s the growing pain of a young team is making sure that we’re learning a little bit every game and trying to look a little better from game to game.”

Ames 49, Marshalltown 26

AMES (6-4, 4-0) — Karsyn Pankonen 5 2-6 13, Anisa Percival 3 0-3 6, Haley Prakashan 2 5-6 10, Victoria Williams 3 1-3 7, Abbey McGuire 1 0-0 2, Morgan Wahl 2 0-0 4, Sophia Hatcher 0 2-4 2, Natalya Deardorff 1 0-2 2, Macy Button 1 0-0 2, Meredith Frandsen 0 0-0 0, Sophia Timmermans 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 10-24 49.

MARSHALLTOWN (4-6, 1-3) — Kinsley Bowie 3 5-6 14, MIllie Heitmann 2 0-1 4, Sydney Kapayou 0 0-0 0, Ellie Hughes 0 2-2 2, Frankie Long 1 1-2 3, Amairra Johnson 0 0-0 0, Aubrie Tejada 0 0-0 0, Tania Mora 0 0-0 0, Jorja Janssen 1 1-2 3. TOTAL 7 9-13 26.

AMES 10 12 18 9 — 49

MHS 2 14 8 2 — 26

3-Point Goals–Ames 3 (Pankonen, Deardorff, Prakashan), MHS 3 (Bowie 3). Team Fouls–Ames 16, MHS 19. Fouled Out–none.