Men lose for first time this season
The Rochester Community and Technical College women’s basketball team forged a 12-point halftime lead against Northern Iowa Area Community College, then held on for a 51-49 win Wednesday.
Kasie Heimer led the Yellowjackets with 15 points. Trisha Peterson added 11, and Brittany Gladis had 11 points and 8 rebounds. Chelsea Jajowka chipped in with 8 points.
"For some reason, offensively we were less aggressive in the second half," said RCTC coach Steve Hucke. "And we forgot to rebound for awhile in the second half."
The Jackets were out-rebounded 35-30.
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RCTC (4-2) is home again at 6 p.m. Friday against Northland Community College. Then it’s another home game Saturday at 1 p.m. against Itasca.
Men suffer 1st loss
The RCTC men, ranked ninth in the nation, fell from the unbeaten ranks with a 79-71 loss to NIACC.
A poor second half (14 turnovers, 5-for-15 foul shooting) proved costly. RCTC led 45-35 at halftime but a 14-2 NIACC run tied the game in the first five minutes of the second half. The Iowa school also was strong in the final five minutes, outscoring the Yellowjackets 13-2 in that span.
"It was a disappointing loss," said RCTC coach Brian LaPlante, while noting that NIACC is a scholarship-awarding school and has a 7-2 record.
Matt Gangelhoff led Rochester with 19 points, Darrin Loewenhagen added 17, and Rochester Rogers had 13 rebounds with nine points.
