#7 Women’s Basketball drops road game to #10 NIACC
Posted on November 3rd, 2018
East Peoria, Ill. – If you watched the broadcast of the women’s basketball game between #7 ICC (0-1) and #10 North Iowa Area (1-0), you saw some new faces right away when the starting lineups were announced in Mason City.
Three of the Cougars’ five starters were newcomers. Rocky Stanley (5’10” Fr. F – East St. Louis, IL), Summer Stoewer (5’7″ Fr. G – Normal, IL), and Marquitta Easley (5’5″ So. G – North Chicago, IL) all started. Kathy Pinnock-Branford (5’6″ So. G – San Jose, Costa Rica) and Abby Coates (5’11” So. F – Metamora, IL) were the returnees that got the starting nod.
Things did not get off to a great start for ICC. Turnovers seemed to be an early issue. The scoring was there, just not at the pace it needed to be. A couple of positives to note for the first quarter and change. Pinnock-Branford made the most of her trips to the free throw line, making both of the opportunities on her first three tries.
The first made basket of the season came from Stoewer off an assist from Pinnock-Branford just over two minutes into the game. However, the Cougars were down 31-15 after a quarter.
Pace of play got gradually better for ICC, but also got gradually better for North Iowa Area. Although the Trojans narrowly outscored the Cougars 13-11 out of the quarter, it came down to the deficit that North Iowa Area had already created, leading 46-26 roughly midway through the second quarter. NIACC, as they are commonly referred to as, doubled up ICC through the break, and that would propel them to a 28-point halftime lead. Remember, there are two halves in basketball.
Comeback. Definitions vary, but what the Cougars did in the second half is definitely a comeback. They turned a 28-point deficit into a 12-point gap. Easley and Stanley got an and-one as well as a two-pointer respectively to pull ICC within 10 for the first time of the night.
In the fourth quarter, a basket from Coates made it even closer. 76-75 NIACC to be exact. Not all that much later, on a drive to the hoop, a shot went in to give the Cougars what they thought was a 77-76 lead. It was cancelled when the officials signaled for a charge, sending it the other way with a one-point Trojan lead.
The Cougars held strong, staying within that one-point mark all the way until under a minute to go. A foul with 14 seconds remaining in the fourth turned into a converted free throw to tie it up at 83.
There wasn’t enough time left on the clock for the Trojans to get a good look at the basket, and thus, overtime was in the cards for this season opener.
NIACC was back. They once again doubled up the Cougars in the extra period, 12-6. That would set up the final score of 95-89.
ICC Double Figures Scoring: Marquitta Easley (19), Rocky Stanley (15), Abby Coates (13), Emma Henderson (12), Kathy Pinnock-Branford (10)
Other Notes: Easley’s 19 points are a career high. Stanley had a double-double, adding 20 rebounds to her 15 points. Summer Stoewer led the team in assists with 5, but Josi Becker (5’4″ Fr. PG – Morton, IL) closely followed with 4.
Next Up: #7 ICC vs. Ellsworth CC (@ North Iowa Area) | Saturday, November 3rd | 11:00 am | No Broadcast
Twitter Follows: Alex Staab (@StaabAlex) | Women’s Basketball (@ICC_CougarsWBB) | Karrie Redeker (@KarrieRedeker)