Council Bluffs, IA – The Reiver women finished the weekend 1-1 after beating Cloud County 75-73 and falling to Butler CC 85-79. Sophomore guard, Zhan'e Williams had a season-high 26 points to lead the Reivers in their win over Cloud County and was selected as the ICCAC player of the week.
Saturday November 24th
Courtesy of the Daily Nonpareil - Concordia, KS. – Iowa Western held off Cloud County (Kan.) 75-73 on Saturday afternoon in college women's basketball.
Beating Cloud County on its home floor was no easy feat, IWCC coach Lindsey Vande Hoef said.
"It was a gritty, gritty win," she said. "I'm so proud of our girls. Cloud is a hard place to play. It was a great win."
Zhan'e Williams came off the bench and scored 26 points to lead the Reiver offense. She hit 7 of 12 from the floor, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range. "She definitely came in with a vengeance," Vande Hoef said. The Reivers were outscored in three of the four quarters but made up for it with a 19-8 edge in the third period. In the fourth quarter, Tiana Ziegler's 3 with 35 seconds left put IWCC up 72-67. The Reivers missed three of six free throws in the last 11 seconds, but came away winners when Cloud's Emmiley Hendrixson missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Sunday November 25th
El Dorado, KS - After a hard fought 40-minute battle the Reivers fell to No. 16 ranked Butler Community College 79-85.
After exchanging baskets to start the game the Reivers tied the score three times in the first quarter before the Grizzlies gained momentum and entered the second quarter 23-19.
The Reivers saw a shift in momentum when freshman Sommer Blakemore stole the ball and converted to bring the Reivers within 3 points (36-33). However the Reivers committed two fouls and a turnover late in the 2nd and entered halftime down 35-43.
The second half consisted of multiple momentum swings on both sides. With the score as close as 69-73 with 5 minutes left to play the Reivers relied heavily on the bench players as 2 starters fouled out late in the 4th quarter. The Reivers were forced to foul late and the Grizzlies sealed the game making 5 out of their last 6 free throws.
The Reivers were lead in scoring by the three starting guards Zhan'e Williams (12), De'Ayra Davis (15), and Sommer Blakemore (14). Iowa Western will face Kirkwood on Saturday December 1st at 2:00 p.m.
