There weren’t any big surprises at the Democratic Caucus in the Washington High School cafeteria Tuesday night nor in the gymnasium where two of the state’s best girls basketball teams were playing.

We know who the Democrats nominated and we know Iowa City West is still the top 4A team in Iowa.

The super-talented Women of Troy used a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter and won a hard-fought Mississippi Valley Conference game over No. 9 Washington, 78-64.

Iowa City West moved to 9-0 overall and 7-0 in league play. Washington dropped to 5-2 overall and 5-2 in the MVC.

The Women of Troy, who finished second at the state tournament last winter, are impressive with shooters, size at every position, ballhandlers, rebounders and a good coach.

“We’re okay,” Trojan boss B.J. Mayer said when asked if he has the best team in the state. “I haven’t seen some of the other schools who are ranked highly. We just want to keep getting better. Hopefully, by playing teams like Washington, it will help to make us better.”

Washington had plenty of chances, but dug itself a hole to start the fourth quarter. Iowa City West held a slim 57-54 lead entering the final eight minutes of play, but Washington went scoreless for three minutes and fell behind, 67-54.

Tasha Roundtree’s runner with 5:10 to play provided the Warriors’ first points of the quarter and her 3-pointer a minute later cut the margin to 70-59, but the game was over. The Trojans won the fourth quarter by a 21-10 margin.

“I thought our effort was good,” Washington Coach Frank Howell said. “There were times we were down three in the second half and we just didn’t quite have enough to get over the hump.”

Howell said everything hinged on the start of the fourth quarter.

“We were down three with the ball to start the fourth quarter and that is a big opportunity right there,” he said. “If we could have converted something right there, that could have changed the complexion of things quite a bit.”

The optimistic Howell viewed the game as a good opportunity for his squad.

“I am still encouraged by where we are at because I know we played a really good team,” he said. “You are talking about a team that was state runnerup last year and has virtually everyone back from last season.

"And, we are still kind of finding ourselves a bit. We have some opportunities for growth and hopefully this shows us what is possible.”

The Warriors were thinking upset when they bounded to a 20-11 lead in the first quarter. They led by nine points twice in the first half, but Iowa City West outscored the hosts 26-14 in the second stanza to grab a 37-34 edge at halftime.

Sophomore sensation Danielle Franklin, who is averaging 18 points per game, scored 12 of Washington's first 24 points. Mayer said he was impressed with the Warriors’ intensity at the start.

“That is a very good Wash team,” he said. “They are very athletic and they have a great shooter in Franklin and they are big, too.

“They dictated everything in the first quarter, got some hands on a lot of passes and beat us up and down the floor, and that is the way we play. In the second half we were able to get to the rim a little bit more.

“Any kind of a win is a good win right now," he said.

Tatum Klein came off the bench to hit 5-of-7 shots for a team-high 19 points for Iowa City West, including 12 in the second half. Franklin also totaled 19 points and added three blocks, two assists and three rebounds for the Warriors.

All-state Iowa City West volleyball player Shelley Stumpff played a strong game with 14 points and nine rebounds and was perfect from the floor (5-for-5). Silky-smooth guard Ally Disterhoft, a second team all-stater last year as a sophomore, hit 4-of-8 shots for 15 points and controlled the game with her floor play.

The Women of Troy scored just one more field goal than Washington, but drained 20 of 29 free throws.

“We are pretty athletic, we all shoot the 3, and late in the game we try to spread the floor and make you chase us and get to the line and we were able to stretch the lead,” Mayer said.

Roundtree played a good game for Washington with nine points and nine assists. Abby Herb added eight points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Washington plays at Kennedy on Friday night in the first game of a girl-boy twinbill beginning at 6 p.m.

IOWA CITY WEST (78): Shahana Williams 2 3-4 7, Ally Disterhoft 4 7-9 15, Brianna Sturtz 2 0-0 5, Shelly Stumpff 6 1-2 14, Jessica Shull 3 0-0 7, Tatum Klein 6 6-8 19, McKenzie Piper 4 3-6 11. Totals 27 20-29 78.

WASHINGTON (64): Jazz Royster 2 3-4 7, Madison Kramer 2 0-0 6, Kelli Klaus 3 0-0 6, Abby Herb 4 0-0 8, Brooke Foreman 1 2-2 5, Aleena Hobbs 2 0-1 4, Colby Bjornson 0 0-0 0, Danielle Franklin 8 1-3 19, Tasha Roundtree 4 0-0 9. Totals 26 6-10 64.

Halftime – Iowa City West 37, Washington 34. 3-point goals - Iowa City West 4 (Sturtz 1, Shull 1, Stumpff 1, Klein 1), Washington 6 (Franklin 2, Kramer 2, Foreman 1, Roundtree 1). Fouled out – Kramer.