The Ellsworth Community College women's basketball team traveled to Rockford, IL, on Friday, Dec. 4, falling to Rock Valley College in a close 62-53 game.
The Panthers went into halftime down only 2 points (13-11) with Antoinette Williams and April Jones leading the team with 6 points each. Jade Brown led the team on the boards, pulling down 4 rebounds. The Panthers finished the first half shooting 42.9% from the field.
Rock Valley kept in the game by getting to the free throw line early and often; they finished the first half shooting a perfect 100% from the foul line. Creighton Fed knocked down seven of the team's eight attempts. She was backed by Jaycee Cleaver, who finished the half with 6 points. Cleaver made a huge three point shot in the second quarter to shift the momentum in the favor of the home team.
As the third quarter got under way both teams started to get into an offensive flow. Each team had easy buckets as they looked to push the ball up the court off turnovers. There was a total of 37 points put on the board off turnovers between both teams.
Late in the game the Panthers struggled to find easy ways to score as the Golden Eagles went to a box and chaser. The Panthers were also plagued with foul trouble on the defensive end; ECC had six players finish with three or more fouls.
Williams led the Panthers with 21 points. Jones and Chantelle Rumph assisted in the scoring efforts with 11 and 12 points respectively.
ECC will finish off the first semester of play with a home game against William Penn JV on Thursday, Dec. 10; tipoff is at 5 pm.