Augustana overcomes early Central women’s basketball team flurry
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA—Central College couldn’t sustain a quick start and dropped a 68-54 women’s basketball decision to Augustana College (Ill.) Saturday.
The Dutch (2-2) aggressively attacked Augustana’s pressure for several quick buckets in taking a 20-15 first-quarter lead. But the Vikings (1-2) used a 23-12 second-quarter advantage for a 38-32 lead at intermission, then held Central to just five points in the third quarter. That left the Dutch down 54-37. Central shot just 20 percent from the floor in the middle two periods.
However, coach Joe Steinkamp liked the way his team performed against what he viewed as one of Central’s top non-conference opponents.
“Overall, I was really encouraged,” he said. “They obviously got the best of us in the middle two quarters. But we were in it.”
For the second straight game, the Dutch trailed a game Steinkamp thought they could have led at halftime.
“We had eight offensive boards in the first half but only two points to show for it,” he said. “We let the half get away from us.”
The third quarter was the most disappointing. Central shot 16.7 percent and committed seven of their 22 turnovers for the day. But Augustana’s pressure defense forced some uncharacteristic mistakes.
“We rushed some shots,” Steinkamp said. “We had open shots where we didn’t realize how open we were. For the most part we got good looks but we probably didn’t get enough easy looks. We didn’t get very many layups.”
It was another steady outing for freshman guard Jenna Clark (Story City, Roland-Story HS) with 14 points, three rebounds and three steals. She was 4-of-8 on 3-point goals.
“It was good to see her knock down some threes,” Steinkamp said. “We know she’s a good shooter.”
Senior guard Kristin Hubert (Hornick, Woodbury Central HS) had 13 points.
“Kristin got to the free throw line,” Steinkamp said. “We’ve wanted her to drive more. She shot mostly 3-pointers in the first two games but today she got to the rim a few times.”
Steinkamp also cited the floor game of point guard Mary Faulkner (junior, Glendale, Ariz., Sunrise Mountain HS).
“She didn’t have a lot of points but for her to play point guard the whole game and only have one turnover against that pressure is impressive,” he said. “She played with pace and did a lot of nice things out there.”
Center Kendall Brown (junior, Moravia) had a team-high eight rebounds but was limited to two points.
“We need to find ways to get her the ball more,” Steinkamp said.
Central was outshot 48.1 percent to 31.5 and outrebounded 36-31. The Dutch forced 21 turnovers and came up with 10 steals.
Central concludes a four-game homestand Tuesday with a 6 p.m. game against Westminster College (Mo.) at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. The Blue Jays (1-2) toppled Millikin University (Ill.) Saturday, 68-51. Central defeated Millikin at Pella 70-64 Nov. 10. Last year at Fulton, Mo., Central hit a school-record 16 3-point goals to defeat the Blue Jays, 73-61.
“They added a couple of nice transfers,” Steinkamp said. “They’ve got good athleticism. We’ll have to play well to win.”
