Second-half slump costs Dutch women road basketball victory

Central College

INDIANOLA — The Central College women’s basketball team lost its momentum after halftime and subsequently suffered a setback against Simpson College 67-52 on Saturday.

The Dutch (4-17, 1-9 Iowa Conference) shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, including an impressive 7-of-13 on 3-pointers. Emily Dine (sophomore, Olsmar, Fla., East Lake HS) finished the game with 15 points after starting the game 5-of-6 from the 3-point line

“The first half was the best offensive half we’ve played all year,” coach Chelsea Petersen said. “We made some extra passes and found the hot hand when Emily Dine made 3-pointers on several possessions in a row.”

Trailing just 41-37 at the break, things turned south after halftime. Central shot 6-of-27 in the second half, connecting just 22.2 percent of the time.

Petersen cited the Storm’s (13-8, 6-4 Iowa Conference) 15 points off turnovers and 14 second chance points as being costly.

“I really thought the game came down to those 29 points,” she said. “Those were 29 points that Simpson didn’t have to work very hard to get.”

Leading the team in rebounding for the 10th time this season was Jackie Kriegel (sophomore, Marengo, Iowa Valley HS), who corralled four offensive and nine total rebounds. Kriegel also had 10 points, including a 4-for-6 effort from the charity stripe.

“She continues to be an aggressive playmaker,” Petersen said. “She hit the floor often tonight and really sacrificed a lot for her teammates. She played extremely well.”

Claire Marburger (freshman, Perry) led the Dutch with 16 points to go along with three steals.

“Claire was great on the offensive end tonight,” Petersen said.