The Highland women's basketball team chalked up win number 15 on the season after defeating the #20 ranked, Division I, Iowa Western Reivers 109-72 last night in Ben Allen Field House.
 
Highland came into the game leading the nation in points per game averaging 99.7 on the year. The high-powered Scottie offense did not disappoint as they shot their way to 109 points on the night; the 8^th time this season that HCC has scored in triple digits.
 
Freshman guard/forward combo Mariane Carvalho led the team in scoring with 25 points, eight rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals. "When Shaiann went out of the game I knew I had to step up and take a bigger role in the game. I felt comfortable stepping into the point-guard position and taking over," Carvalho said after starting point-guard Shaiann Tramble left the game with a knee injury in the 2^nd quarter.
 
De'Chelle Claiborne posted her career high scoring 16 points and grabbing three rebounds. Claiborne went 6-10 from the floor and 4-4 from the free throw line. Tiana Cook added in 14 points and Blaize Burgess finished with 12 points and four assists. After sitting most of the first half because of foul trouble, the Reivers were able to hold All-American Szonja Vukov to only six points on the night. Vukov contributed pulling down six rebounds and dishing out five assists to teammates.
 
Highland held the Reivers to shooting only 45% from the floor and 0-9 from three-point range. HCC forced the Reivers into 23 turnovers and scored 36 points off of Iowa Western mistakes. The Scottie's bench players combined for 64 of the team's 109 points.
 
Coach Smith commented after the game, "This was a great team win for us. We had a lot of kids step up, our bench was great and some of our starters were pretty dang good too."
 
Highland improves to 15-0 on the year and are currently ranked 15^th in the NJCAA Division II Poll. They play their last game of 2016 on Friday night at home against Southeast CC at 5:30pm.