By Marissa VanWingen, The Times Citizen
Early in the season Ellsworth Community College has already had adversity.
Several teams on the schedule have canceled forcing the Panthers to try and find replacements. One of those quick additions led to ECC's first loss of the 2024-25 campaign.
Needing a bounce back in a big way and a chance to gain some confidence, the Panthers hosted the Buena Vista University JV and recorded a 79-46 victory on their home floor.
"We needed something after the last kind of travel episode that we had. Things went haywire in a sense of everything between the opponents we were supposed to play, our preparation with that and even how long we were traveling for. Everything about that trip went wrong," said ECC coach Justin Rees. "We were able to get back here and kind of get back to us. We were still a little shaken from that because I think we were feeling maybe a little too good about ourselves and you could see that a little bit tonight."
The opening quarter was all Panthers (5-1). After being knotted at 7-7, Favour Anyaele broke the tie and started a Panther run. The hosts forced 11 turnovers in the first 10 minutes and went on an 8-0 run. On back-to-back possessions Ella Sharar got the basket and a freebie as the Panthers went up by double figures for the first time. A 16-0 scoring spree ended the stanza with ECC on top 31-10.
ECC relaxed in the second quarter and were outscored by the Beavers 17-13, holding a 43-27 lead going into the half.
The hosts regrouped at the break and came out strong once again. With a Claudia Sanz longball, the Panthers went on another stealing and scoring spree. They tallied 27 steals in the contest and went on a 13-1 run to lead by 27 (60-33) in the third stanza.
Neither team would make much movement in the fourth as the hosts got the 33-point win. Sanz led the offensive attack 19 points. Marin Agustsdottir added 14 points and 10 assists for a double-double and Taylor Ross had 15 points. Sharar was one steal away from a triple-double with 14 point, 13 rebounds and nine steals.
For more photos from the game, visit: https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.timescitizen.com%2fgallery%2f11-20-24-ellsworth-vs-buena-vista-wbb%2fcollection_f9b22efc-a811-11ef-9a73-53b7fb3dbd7c.html&c=E,1,f0LKF0KwVmS9yxNz12KZCSbpYc622Rvo_c6JvfEU_iztfyueoBpxHCk8cOWDGi766ZEb_LZHSZaJq2y-Sx-RDuyfpQ_TnHmwJOPtE1wpxlA7wkh2vA,,&typo=1
NJCAA Basketball
Wednesday at Iowa Falls
BVU: 10| 17| 12| 7 – 46
ECC: 31| 13| 21| 14 – 79
ECC Scoring: Claudia Sanz 8 1-2 19; Taylor Ross 6 2-2 15; Ella Sharar 4 5-6 14; Marin Agustsdottir 6 0-1 14; Favour Anyaele 4 1-1 9; Laia Santanach 3 0-0 6; Bwanne Ciimban 1 0-0 2.