IOWA FALLS, IOWA -- The Ellsworth CC women's basketball team suffered a pair of losses in the Dale Howard Classic over the weekend, 80-53 to Oakton (Ill.) CC and 73-70 to the Grand View University JV.  

Aaliyah Chambers completed a torrid week scoring-wise for the Panthers with 20 points against Oakton and 34 in the Grand View JV game.  Those efforts came on the heels of 33- and 42-point games earlier in the week, giving the talented sophomore 139 points for the four contests, an average of 34.8 points a game.  For the season, Chambers's scoring average is 29.2.

Oakton pounced on the Panthers in the first period of their game on Friday, racing away to a 26-15 lead after one quarter.  They expanded the advantage to 44-26 by intermission and continued to stretch the lead in the second half.  Ellsworth had a hard time handling Oakton's pressure, committing 32 turnovers to just 12 for the visitors from Illinois.  Chambers had 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals to go along with her 20 points.  Autumn Shull chipped in 16 points and pulled down 9 rebounds.

The following day, ECC came from two points behind after the opening period to grab a 37-32 lead at the half.  The game was close throughout the entire second half, but the 3rd quarter was decisive with the Grand View JV outscoring the hosts 24-15 in that 10-minute period.  Halle Miller's 13 points supported Chambers's game-high 34 for the Panthers.  Shull scored 8 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.  Chambers grabbed 8 rebounds and had 6 steals.  Elllsworth got good play off the bench from Hydiyah Robinson, who scored 9 and had 6 boards.

ECC (2-4) has a couple of non-league road tests this week:  a return engagement with the Grand View JV on Tuesday in Des Moines and a game at Riverland CC in Minnesota on Friday.