Two double-doubles lead Central women’s basketball to season-opening win
Central College
CARLINVILLE, ILL. — Coming off a 2014-15 season in which a Central College women’s basketball player recorded a double-double just once in 25 games, the Dutch tallied two Saturday night in a season-opening 67-39 victory over Blackburn (Ill.).
Coach Chelsea Petersen was happy to see her young team pick up a win away from home to start the season.
“Our team has done a great job preparing over the last four weeks,” said Petersen. “We came out tonight and played well in many different aspects of the game.”
Central (1-0) jumped out to a 43-18 lead at halftime and never looked back. The Dutch shot 38 percent from the field.
“We had five keys to the game and were able to put checkmarks next to four of the five keys,” said Petersen. “We held them under 60 points, had 15 turnovers or less, had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio and shot at least 70-percent from the free throw line.”
The Dutch defense overwhelmed the Beavers, holding them to 28 percent shooting and without a 3-point basket.
“We were extremely aggressive defensively,” said Petersen. “We looked great in a variety of different looks.”
Freshman forward Claire Marburger (Perry, Iowa) had a team-high 16 points in her collegiate debut, also pulling down 10 rebounds.
“Claire played well on both ends of the floor,” said Petersen. “She scored out of multiple positions. She did a great job distributing the ball to her teammates and getting others involved.
Sophomore forward Jackie Kriegel (Marengo, Iowa/Iowa Valley HS) notched her first career double-double, scoring 13 points and hauling in 10 boards. Her 13 points are a new career high after she averaged just 4.9 points per contest last season. Sophomore guard Jessica Helton (Nevada, Iowa) also scored in double-digits, notching 10 points on 2-of-4 shooting behind the arc and 4-for-4 at the charity stripe.
Freshman guard Kaitlyn Johnson (Stockport, Iowa/Van Buren HS) scored nine points in her first collegiate game on 3-for-8 shooting. She also added four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“Kaitlyn was phenomenal tonight,” said Petersen. “She handled pressure well and was very vocal on the court.”
Petersen cited her coaching staff for the much of the success.
“Coach (Alex) Feeney and Coach (Austin) Hellbusch have done a terrific job preparing our players,” she said. “Two of our post players having double-doubles in the first game of the year is a credit to Coach Feeney and her ability to translate moves efficiently to our players.”
Central will be back in action Wednesday, its home opener against Iowa Wesleyan at 6 p.m.
It will be the Tigers’ first game of the season.
“It’s tough to make a scouting report with no film on a team,” said Petersen. “Any time that’s the case heading into a game, we need to focus on the aspects of the game we have control over. If we can do that, we can put ourselves in a good position to move to 2-0 on Wednesday.”
