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A depleted Vermilion Ironhawks team lost twice at home last weekend.
Both defeats came in non-division play, as MCAC Southern Division schools St. Cloud Tech and M State-Fergus Falls both came to Ely and scored lopsided community college women’s basketball wins.
Vermilion, which has battled both injuries and ineligibility while trying to fight its way through the program’s most difficult and expansive non-division set in school history, is now 2-11 for the year.
St. Cloud Tech racked up 51 first-half points and outrebounded Vermilion 4824 in the Dec. 6 game at the college gymnasium.
Vermilion had a more competitive second half but the damage was done.
Lily Manning poured in 20 points and teammate Brooklyn Fisher added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the victorious Cyclones.
Vermilion freshman Tamia Cahee had another big evening.
The state’s leading scorer cemented that spot with 30 points for the night on a 14for-25 shooting performance from the floor.
Freshman Ny’Jai Wright contributed nine points and Destiny Gonzalez finished with seven.
Saturday’s game had a similar feel as Fergus Falls raced out to a double-digit lead in the opening half and cruised 70-40.
Four-of-five Spartan starters scored in double figures, with Tenley Epema and Felicity LeBlanc finishing with 18 points each.
The Spartans also had a commanding 46-26 edge on the boards.
Angie Schuchardt led Vermilion with 13 points, Cahee finished with 12 and Wright had six points to go with six rebounds and six assists.
Before a holiday break, Vermilion traveled to Rochester Friday and is then idle until a Dec. 30-31 holiday tournament at Fergus Falls.
Northern Division play starts in early-January.
