Council Bluffs, IA – The Iowa Western women's basketball team went 2-0 at the 2019 Reiver Classic, beating Snow College 59-46 and Lake Region 75-73.
Against Snow College, the Reivers put together a balanced scoring report, with 10 of 11 Reivers scoring. Despite the collective mentality, the Reivers scored just 8 first-quarter points, the Reivers connected on just 3 of 14 shot attempts to start the contest and have been shooting a season-low from the 3-point line, hitting just 1 of 8 in the first quarter. Defensive intensity was vital in the second quarter as full-court pressure by the Reivers held the Badgers to scoring just 8 points and committing 4 turnovers. Entering the second half down 2 points, the Reivers continued to put on the pressure defensively and only allowed the Badgers to score 6 points the entire 3rd quarter. A fourth-quarter push by the Badgers was not enough to close the gap, and the Reivers went on to win by 13.
Hayley Berfield and Olivia Roberson led the Reivers with 9 points each and Sommer Blakemore and Arielle McElroy each added 7.
Against Lake Region the Reivers again put together a poor second quarter connecting on just 2 shots from the field, they entered halftime down 15 points to the unranked Royals. The Reivers snapped out of their shooting woes the third quarter and scored 24 to the Royals' 9. The Reivers once again relied on their defense and forced the Royal's into 5 turnovers and shooting just 10% from the field. Sophomore Nyah Morris-Nelson was a big spark offensively in the third quarter, shooting 3-4 from the field. Despite battling back from a 15 point deficit at halftime, the Reivers continued to trail the Royals until the 4-minute mark before a big offensive rebound and put back from Sommer Blakemore. After a missed shot by the Royals, a rebound by Olivia Roberson and a transition break put Jaiden Morris on the line after being fouled. She hit both to put the Reivers up 65-62 with just over 3 minutes left to play. An exchange of baskets found the Reivers up by just two points with the ball in their backcourt, a layup by Sommer Blakemore extended the lead to 74-70. Blakemore would also go 1-2 from the line with just 1.4 seconds left in the game to give the Reivers the win.
The Reivers improve to 6-7 on the year and will finish the first semester on the road at Mineral Area and Jefferson College December 14 and 15 before heading into Christmas break.
