The Bobcats (2-0) held Lincoln to just nine points in the second half. Kinsley Bowie led the Bobcats with 11 points with three 3-pointers, two of which were scored just before halftime and the end of the third quarter to give Marshalltown a confidence boost in between quarters.

“She was really harassing their point guards defensively, getting steals, getting pressure, and I thought that set the tone for our defense, which is what we were really missing against South Tama,” MHS head coach Brian Murphy said. “We got back to our defensive identity tonight, and holding a team like that in the second half is going to put us in a really good position to win. And her shots really lifted us in moments where we needed it.”

Jorja Janssen had four steals and Bowie, Ellie Hughes and Sydney Kapayou snatched three steals each. Janssen added seven points; Hughes led the team with nine rebounds and Kapayou had a team-leading four assists.

Lincoln led 17-13 at one point in the first half before the Bobcats scored the final five points of the first half and never trailed again after Bowie’s 3-pointer just before the halftime horn.

“Our offensive decision making slowed down a little bit, we got more patient,” Murphy said. “In the first half, there was a lot of pushing and pressing too hard.

We learned from those mistakes and did better at reading the defense and taking balanced shots instead of trying to force off-balance, rushed shots.”

Bowie came out of the game late in the second half with an ankle injury and at press time it was unknown what her status would be going forward.

“Coming out of the second half, I told the girls that this was our first kind of adversity where we had to dig down deep this season,” Murphy said. “This was a game where we felt like we should’ve been ahead by more, and the girls really responded. There’s just a new mentality with this team that I don’t think I’ve seen since I’ve been coaching — these girls just refuse to give up or let one or two bad plays get to them. It’s a really proud moment to see the girls responding in that way.”

The girls are at Newton on Thursday in a girls/boys doubleheader starting at 6 p.m.

Marshalltown 40, Des Moines Lincoln 26

DM LINCOLN (0-3) — Monique Stonehocker 2 0-0 5, Jaida Wood 0 0-2 0, Ella Foust 0 0-0 0, Leiah Ochoa 2 2-2 8, Cassidy Dickey 1 2-6 4, Lierra Martinez 1 0-0 3, Ava Signs 0 0-0 0, Alivia Versteegh 3 0-0 6, Koreylyn Brown 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 9 4-16 26.

MARSHALLTOWN (2-0) — Kinsley Bowie 4 0-2 11, Millie Heitmann 1 2-2 5, Ellie Hughes 2 0-0 4, Sydney Kapayou 0 5-6 5, Frankie Long 1 0-0 2, Morgan Hilderbrand 2 0-2 6, Jorja Janssen 3 1-4 7. TOTALS 13 8-18 40.

DM LINCOLN 6 9 5 4 — 26

MHS 9 9 10 12 — 40

3-Point Goals–Lincoln 4 (Ochoa 2, Martinez, Stonehocker), MHS 6 (Bowie 3, Hilderbrand 2, Heitmann). Team Fouls–Lincoln 14, MHS 12. Fouled Out–none.