By Marissa VanWingen

On the road against conference newcomers Central Community College, Ellsworth Community College pulled away in the second half for a 74-58 final.

In the first quarter, the Panthers (11-12, 7-10) went on a 7-2 run to end the period on top 14-8. The lead swelled to eight before the Raiders made a comeback and took the lead. Central (8-17, 4-13) went on a 7-0 scoring spree to flip the difference and lead by four. The two would be even at 24-24 before the hosts scored eight of the final 12 points of the half to lead 32-28.

The largest Raider lead of the game was six (34-28) when ECC came storming back. Yaiza Soriano Balaguer drained a triple followed by a layup by Claudia Sanz Dorange to cut the deficit to one. Later, a three-pointer from Sofia Berraquero Beltran evened the score at 36-all.

The Panthers went back on top on another Beltran three-ball (39-38) as ECC outscored Central 26-10 in the third and led 54-42 with 10 minutes left to go in the game. In the period, Beltran hit three long balls and had nine of her 12 points.

With five and a half minutes left to go in the contest, the Panthers were on top by double figures for the first time (63-52) and continued to pull away.

Three players were in double figures scoring led by Asia Beale. The freshman from Cedar Rapids recorded a game-high 25 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Dorange tallied 14 points, four assists and four steals while Beltran hit three of the team's five triples for her 12 points.

ECC has a chance to make it four in a row as they host Southeastern Community College. In the first meeting, the Panthers survived in West Burlington for a four-point win.

https://www.timescitizen.com/sports/ecc/

ICCAC Basketball
Saturday at Grand Island, Neb.

ECC: 14| 14| 26| 20 - 74
CCC: 8| 24| 10| 10 - 58

ECC Scoring: Asia Beale 8 9-10 25; Claudia Sanz Dorange 5 4-6 14; Sofia Berraquero Beltran 3 3-4 12; Yaiza Soriano Balaguer 1 5-10 8; Addy Dennis 2 2-6 6; Kana Nagashima 3 0-1 6; Sare Celaya Urrutia 1 0-0