The Tigers trudged through flashbacks of similar scenarios from earlier this season.

Finally, the Marshalltown Community College women’s basketball team got one to go their way.

One of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the nation won at the free-throw line down the stretch as the Tigers outlasted Iowa Western for a 61-58 victory on Wednesday night at the Student Activity Center.

MCC, ranked 148th out of 151 teams in NJCAA Division II women’s basketball with a 52.5 percent free-throw shooting success rate, went 10-of-12 at the charity stripe over the final three minutes to snap a five-game losing streak and beat the Reivers in Marshalltown for the second year in a row.

Iowa Western (12-8, 9-5) led by seven, 48-41, with eight minutes to play before the hometown Tigers (6-17, 3-12) started their comeback. What had been a back-and-forth battle from the opening tip turned into MCC’s success story after having learned from four previous single-digit losses this season.

Even head coach Dylan Longley learned how to ask for help, and the results were obvious. The Tigers shot a season-best 85.2 percent (23-for-27) from the free-throw line to hold off the Reivers down the stretch.

“I’m gonna give credit to (former MCC women’s coach) Steve Garber on that,” Longley said, breathing a soggy sigh of relief after getting doused with water by his team in the locker room. “He’s a legend, been around for a long time, won a national championship, so I asked him.”

Longley said Garber’s free-throw drills drew instant results, and none more evident than in Wednesday’s win.

Olivia Heartwell scored all of her 11 points at the free-throw line, Shenell Stewart made two freebies with 6.2 seconds left, and even Kenijae Cherry — a 37.5 percent free-throw shooter — hit 1-of-2 with 12 seconds left.

“I think we are very comfortable in those situations now,” Longley said. “We’ve been in so many of these close games, it’s like ‘alright, I know what to do here, we’re good,’ and then just letting them make good decisions.”

The Tigers used a 7-0 run to take a 54-52 lead with 1:10 remaining, but the Reivers got a free throw to go before rebounding Grace Albertsen’s miss on the second attempt. Iowa Western’s inbounds play sailed through a sea of hands, however, and into the awaiting arms of Stewart.

The sophomore point guard pushed the ball up the court to make a layup with 24 seconds showing, regaining MCC’s three-point lead.

A 5-for-6 free-throw performance the rest of the way was enough to withstand Sydney Donaldson’s banked-in 3-pointer at the buzzer, giving the Tigers just their second home-court win of the winter.

“Our season didn’t start off where we wanted it to be, but we kept the good fight, and this just shows that we’re still in it,” said Stewart, who matched her season-high with 24 points to go with 13 rebounds and four steals. “Coach kept pushing us and we just came out with the result today.”

MCC outscored Iowa Western 22-13 in the fourth quarter to rally from a 45-39 deficit that grew to seven, 48-41, on Reagan Palmer’s 3-pointer for the Reivers. That was the largest margin of the game, and somehow the tipping point for the Tigers to start their comeback.

Cherry scored back-to-back baskets and Jazmine Williams got a transition layup to make it 50-47. Albertsen answered with a well-designed play to break MCC’s zone defense, but the Reivers didn’t score again for more than three minutes.

“It’s hard not to get emotional because these kids have lost so many of these close games,” Longley said. “People look at our record and they’re like ‘oh, they’re at the bottom’ but I’ve been telling you all year (we can beat these teams), and I didn’t even think this was our best basketball.

“I think this win says a lot about who they are as people because they could have packed it in. These kids play their asses off. I give all the credit to them because they could have folded, and they didn’t.”

Williams finished with nine points, Ariyanah Custard added eight points off the bench, and Cherry added seven despite early foul trouble.

Albertsen led Iowa Western with 15 points and seven rebounds, and Donaldson ended up with 12 points. Savanah Appel added eight points, seven rebounds and four assists, but her two free-throw misses with 15 seconds left allowed the Tigers to add to their three-point lead from the line to seal the win.

“We’ve been working on [free throws] a lot in practice,” Stewart said. “It’s either we make it or run, you know? And I think that’s what pushed us, but all in all, once we get to that line, we have the mindset that we’re going to make the free throws and that’s what we did.”

The Tigers are back on their home court Saturday with a showdown against their Iowa Valley Community College District rival Ellsworth in a 1 p.m. game at the Student Activity Center.

MCC 61, Iowa Western 58

IOWA WESTERN (12-8, 9-5) — Donaldson 5-13 0-0 12, Albertsen 6-8 3-5 15, Small 2-5 1-2 5, Appel 4-12 0-2 8, Carter 1-1 0-0 2, Matthews 0-1 0-0 0, Driskell 2-8 2-3 8, Rohlfsen 2-6 0-0 5, Palmer 1-3 0-0 3. TOTALS 23-57 6-12 58.

MCC (6-17, 3-12) — Cherry 3-7 1-2 7, Stewart 9-18 4-4 24, Williams 2-3 5-6 9, Mcqueen 1-4 0-1 2, Heartwell 0-4 11-12 11, Custard 2-7 2-2 8, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Snell 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS 17-45 23-27 61.

IA WESTERN 16 14 15 13 — 58

MCC 15 16 8 22 — 61

3-Point Goals–Iowa Western 6-25 (Driskell 2-6, Donaldson 2-8, Palmer 1-2, Rohlfsen 1-5, Appel 0-1, Matthews 0-1, Small 0-2), MCC 4-18 (Stewart 2-5, Custard 2-6, Cherry 0-1, Williams 0-1, Snell 0-1, Mcqueen 0-2, Heartwell 0-2). Rebounds–Iowa Western 34 (Albertsen, Appel 7), MCC 34 (Stewart 13). Total Fouls–Iowa Western 18, MCC 12. Fouled Out–Albertsen. Technical Foul–Carter.