Pioneers 70... United Tribes 66 OT

A cold shooting 1st half for both teams turned in to an electric overtime finish as the MCC Pioneer women earned their 1st conference victory of the 2022-23 season. The Melbourne, Australia connection of Jessica Tomkins and India Blythe combined for 39 points and made some big shots down the stretch to put the Pioneers in overtime and eventually pull out a victory 70-66 on Saturday at 4 Bears Casino in New Town, ND. Tomkins finished with 20 points (7-14 FG, 0-2 3's, 6-6 FT) and 15 rebounds (7 Off) while Blythe hit for 19 points (6-21 FG, 2-9 3's, 5-7 FT) and 6 rebounds.

The Pioneers survived a first half in which they shot only 9-33 (27%) and didn't connect on any of their 7 field goal attempts. They used a 9-10 effort at the free throw line to take a 27-26 lead at halftime. The UTTC Thunderbirds had a strong 3rd quarter and took a 43-38 lead to the 4th quarter. The 4th quarter and overtime went back and forth as neither team could pull away. There were 10 lead changes and 6 ties in the contest. 

MCC finished 26-71 FG (36%), only 2-15 on 3's, and connected on 16-20 FT's (80%). The Thunderbirds were 23-73 FG (32%), only 5-29 on 3's, and were 15-22 (68%) at the free throw line. The Pioneers outrebounded the T-Birds 52-48 and both teams committed 19 turnovers. Julia Paoletta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) led MCC with 5 assists. 

Pioneers 59... Williston State 66

The Williston State Tetons went on a 23-3 run late in the 1st quarter and early in the 2nd to build a 33-13 lead and survived a 2nd half rally by the MCC Pioneers as the Pioneers cut the lead to 3 but the Tetons used some big shots to hang on for a 66-59 win on the final day of the MonDak Conference Tournament. 

Freshman Jade Wendland (Havre, MT) score 15 points (5-12 FG, 2-7 3's, 3-6 FT) and fellow Freshman Jessica Tomkins (Melbourne, Australia) hit for 14 points (6-10 FG, 2-3 FT) and had a team high 8 rebounds. Julia Paoletta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) added 7 rebounds and a team high 5 assists. 

The Pioneers shot a cold 27% in the 1st half (7-26 FG, 2-8 3's) and found themselved trailing 39-23 at the halftime break. A 48% (15-31) effort in the 2nd half sparked the comeback but the Tetons did enough to hang on. MCC outrebounded WSC 38-28 and MCC had 14 turnovers compared to 11 for the Tetons. 

The Pioneers will travel to Lake Region State College for a Saturday afternoon game at 1:00 PM MST.