Pioneers 63... Lake Region State 60
In a game that saw the Pioneers lead from the opening tap and by as many as 18 points early in the 3rd quarter, MCC withstood a furious Royals rally to escape Devils Lake with a 63-60 MonDak Conference win.
Freshman guard Becky Melcher (Forsyth, MT) hit for 22 points (6-9 FG, 4-7 3's, 6-6 FT) and freshman forward Jessica Tomkins (Melbourne, Australia) scored 18 points (7-13 FG, 4-5 FT) and snagged 18 rebounds (7 offensive) to lead the charge for the Pioneers. Julia Paoletta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) dished out a team high 8 assists.
MCC led 35-21 at the half and stretched the lead to 39-21 to start the 2nd half. Lake Region then whittled that lead to 48-42 after 3 quarters. The Royals then cut the lead to 1-point late in the 4th quarter and missed a 3-point field goal at the buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime.
Tiziana Huici scored 25 points (8-23 FG, 2-5 3's, 7-10 FT) for the Royals and Iara Navarro had 12 rebounds.
Inside the Box Score
- The Pioneers shot 22-62 (36%) from the field and 6-21 (29%) from 3-point range. MCC was 13-18 from the free throw line.
- The Royals shot 19-64 (30%) from the field and 7-24 (29%) from 3-point range. LRSC was 15-19 from the free throw line.
- The Pioneers outrebounded the Royals 52-39 with 12 of those rebounds being offensive. LRSC had 8 offensive boards.
- MCC had 19 turnovers compared to only 12 for the Royals.
The Pioneers moved to 4-9 in MonDak Conference play and 7-15 overall. Lake Region State College fell to 7-6 in MonDak play and 15-7 overall. MCC will travel to Bismarck State for a Monday night game at 4:30 PM MST.