By LARRY HOLCOMBE

Globe Sports Editor

IRONWOOD -- The Gogebic Community College Lady Samsons improved to 5-4 with a 77-56 win over Itasca Community College at the Lindquist Center Wednesday evening.

The Lady Samsons built a 32-16 lead at halftime and held at least 16-point lead for most of the second half.

Sophomore Kristen Ruppe led the Lady Samsons with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

The Vikings rallied late as freshman Mindy Scott (15 points) canned a trey, a deuce and drove to the hole for two more on consecutive possessions.

Joslin Geisler's lay-in cut Gogebic's lead to 62-51 with 3:45 remaining.

Gogebic grabbed control back as freshman Samantha Ervin hit a long jumper to put the Lady Samsons back ahead 64-51.

The Lady Samsons continued to increase their lead to the end with good ball movement on transition, led by sophomore guard Janey Routheaux (14 points).

Gogebic coach Dennis Mackey was happy for the win, but knew his team could have played better.

"We haven't played enough lately. We were a little out of sync," said Mackey. "We've been off for 11 days and were a little sluggish.

"At the same time we made some adjustments, made some shots and got it going."

The Lady Samsons deeper bench was big factor. "Itasca's not a bad team. They battled us well, but we kind of wore them down."

Itasca center Kari Virkus played well for the Vikings before going down with a late ankle injury. She scored 15 points.

Mackey was especially happy with the play of the Lady Samsons' bench, including 10 points from Carly Levra.

"Andrea Harrington came in and gave us a nice lift. Allison Coss played well off the bench. Sammi Ervin had a couple big shots for us," said Mackey. "We need these type of contributions."

GCC hosts the McDonald's Shootout Dec. 17-18.

Itasca CC -- Jessica Nelson 0 0 1 1-1, Stacey Villebro 3 0 0 5-6, Joslin Geisler 1 0 0 1-2, Michelle Ladoux 2 0 0 1-4, Jessi Hotakaninen 0 1 0 3-3, Mindy Scott 2 3 2 0-15, Cassie Carlson 3 0 4 4-10, Kari Virkus 6 0 3 4-15. Totals: 17 4 10-18 17 56.

Gogebic CC -- Nicole Rosga 1 0 0 4-2, Janey Routheaux 2 2 4 1-14, Nichole Mazurek 1 0 1 2-3, Samantha Ervin 1 2 0 1-8, Allison Coss 3 1 0 1-9, Andrea Harrington 0 2 0 0-6, Kristen Ruppe 8 0 5 3-21, Megan Tucker 1 0 0 2-2, Crystal Barbacovi 1 0 0 0-2, Carly Levra 5 0 0 1-10. Totals: 23 7 10-16 15 77.

Halftime: 32-16 Gogebic.

By LARRY HOLCOMBE

Globe Sports Editor

IRONWOOD -- The Gogebic Community College Samsons took advantage of a cold-shooting night by visiting Itasca CC and ran to an 88-50 win Wednesday at the Lindquist Center.

Samson coach Deke Routheaux expected more of a battle from the Vikings.

"I've seen them twice this year. They're a pretty good team, but when they couldn't fill it in early, everything else went south for our visitors," said Routheaux.

While Itasca struggled shooting 28 percent from the field, the Samsons ran the floor extremely well, creating many easy baskets and finishing 51 percent from the floor.

"Our team covers the floor as well as any team I've ever had," said Routheaux. "Our fast break doesn't work if we have selfish players, but our guys share the ball. We fill and lanes and our guards give the ball up."

Gogebic opened a 50-28 halftime lead and was never challenged in the second half.

Marco Gotta led four Samsons in double figures with 15 points.

"It was nice to see him knock down some shots," said Routheaux. "We've had eight different guys score in double figures this year."

GCC scoring leader John Lane scored 14 points, playing just over half the game. Nathan Phebus added 13 points and Robert Wood had 12.

The Samsons (8-3) host the McDonald's Shootout Dec. 17-18, opening with a talented Madison Tech team Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Itasca CC -- Marc Alexander 4 0 2 5-10, Chris Appicelli 5 0 0 1-10, Jake Freeman 1 1 2 1-7, Jeff Peterson 0 0 0 0-0, Brad McCurdy 1 0 0 4-2, Kevin Preble 1 0 2 0-4, Ray Sutton 0 0 1 1-1, Tim Routheaux 0 0 0 0-0, Justin Bjorge 0 0 1 0-1, Andy Larson 2 0 0 1-4, Josh Hassell 1 0 0 0-2, Joe Ruhland 1 0 1 1-3, Josh Quick 0 1 0 0-3. Totals: 17 2 10-24 14 50.

GCC -- Matt Hagen 2 1 0 1-7, Robert Wood 2 3 0 0-12, Brandon Kelly 2 0 0 2-4, Nathan Phebus 4 1 2 2-13, Drew Paquin 4 0 0 1-8, Aaron Love 0 1 0 0-3, Marco Gotta 6 1 0 3-15, John Lane 6 0 2 2-14, Steve Godfrey 4 0 0 4-8, Dustin Martini 2 0 0 3-4. Totals: 32 7 4-9 18 88.