Freshman Riley Gatton of Montezuma scored 20 points and sophomore Asia Mena of Chicago, Ill., added 13 as the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) women's basketball team dropped a 61-60 decision to Marshalltown Community College (MCC) January 27 at Marshalltown.

The loss was the sixth straight for the Bears, who slipped to 8-13 for the season.

DMACC trailed 21-12 at the end of the first quarter and led 33-25 at halftime after a 21-point second quarter. The Bears had a 46-42 advantage at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter was close the entire 10 minutes with both teams leading by as many as three points. Gatton made a pair of free throws with five seconds to play, giving DMACC a 60-59 advantage, but MCC answered with a pair of free throws with four seconds left to secure the win.

The Bears shot 32 percent, making 21 of 66 field goal attempts. They were 7-of-25 from three-point range and 11-of-21 from the free throw line.

DMACC had a 34-28 advantage on the boards with sophomore Taelor Lessmeier of Fort Dodge pulling down 11 rebounds to lead the Bears. Sophomore Hannah McKinney of Des Moines had six rebounds and freshman Jada Powell of Des Moines came away with five. Mena dished out two assist and Gatton led DMACC in steals with three.

The DMACC women's basketball team will face North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) Feb. 1 at Mason City. The Trojans, ranked fourth in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJACC) Division II poll, are 21-1 and lead the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) at 8-0. DMACC is 2-6 in league play. NIACC defeated the Bears 77-62 when the two teams played Jan. 11 inside the DMACC gymnasium.