Photo by Iowa Central Athletics: Izzy Bassett of Iowa Central goes to the basket on Wednesday against NIACC.

The Iowa Central women used a spirited fourth quarter rally to get back into an ICCAC contest with No. 14 North Iowa Area here Wednesday night.

But a double-digit deficit was too much to overcome, as the Tritons fell inside Hodges Fieldhouse, 76-69.

Down by 23 with seven minutes to play, Iowa Central (13-5 overall, 6-4 in the league) got within two possessions against the Trojans (15-2, 9-2) multiple times.

Shakani Murray had 25 points, Trista Ohlmeier scored 12 with 10 rebounds, Izzy Bassett chipped in 14 points and Ashlin Jacobsen contributed 10 for the Tritons.

Leading the way for NIACC was Zaria Falls, as she scored 19 before fouling out. Peyton Meincke finished with 14, Reggi Spotts 13 and Ciara Seifert 10.

“We struggled early on against NIACC’s full-court pressure,” ICCC head coach Graham McFall said. “They did a good job of speeding us up and controlling the tempo.

“It was great to see our fight cutting the (deficit) from 23 down to five. We are hoping to bottle up the fourth quarter and bring that into Saturday.”

Behind a strong shooting first quarter, NIACC took an early seven-point advantage. Spotts hit a pair of 3-pointers, as both Bassett and Murray were hit with two fouls each in the opening 10 minutes.

Murray came on in the second, tallying eight points in just five minutes of court time due to foul trouble. She also scored nine in the fourth, helping direct the Triton rally.

The Trojans have now won five straight and are 6-0 on the road this season. They took advantage of 23 turnovers by Iowa Central, converting them into 22 points.

Iowa Central remains home on Saturday, hosting No. 20 DMACC beginning at 1 p.m. The Bears were upset by Iowa Western last night, 56-52.

NIACC 76, IOWA CENTRAL 69

Iowa Central — Ashlin Jacobsen 4-8 0-0 10, Amelia Echternkamp 2-5 0-0 5, Izzy Bassett 5-9 0-0 14, Shakani Murray 8-11 8-9 25, Trista Ohlmeier 4-12 4-6 12, Annika Scott 0-3 0-0 0, Sharon Greek 1-4 0-0 3, MacKenna Bush 0-2 0-0 0, Eden Hentges 0-1 0-0 0, Ashleigh Kerr 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-55 12-15 69.

NIACC — Peyton Meincke 6-11 2-4 14, Machaela Trask 2-5 0-0 6, Zaria Falls 6-12 4-8 19, Reggi Spotts 3-9 5-6 13, Ciara Seifert 4-5 2-4 10, Reagan Niebuhr 1-1 0-0 2, Ella Mullenbach 0-3 0-0 0, Taylor Hemann 0-2 0-0 0, Allie Zittel 3-5 0-0 8, Elayna VanNett 0-0 0-0 0, Tillie Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Ella Stoskopf 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 27-57 13-22 76.

Quarter Scores: NIACC led 21-14, 35-27, 56-42. Three-point goals: Iowa Central 9-20 (Jacobsen 2-4, Echternkamp 1-3, Bassett 4-6, Murray 1-2, Ohlmeier 0-1, Scott 0-1, Greek 1-2, Bush 0-1), NIACC 9-23 (Meincke 0-2, Trask 2-3, Falls 3-3, Spotts 2-6, Seifert 0-1, Mullenbach 0-3, Zittel 2-4, Smith 0-1). Total rebounds: Iowa Central 29, NIACC 28. Assists: Iowa Central 11, NIACC 14. Steals: Iowa Central 6, NIACC 13. Blocked shots: Iowa Central 3, NIACC 1. Turnovers: Iowa Central 23, NIACC 14. Team fouls: Iowa Central 16, NIACC 20. Fouled out: Falls.