Central falters in 4th quarter in women’s basketball road loss
Central Dutch Athletics
STORM LAKE—Buena Vista University scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to storm past a shorthanded Central College women’s basketball team Saturday, 91-75.
The Dutch (7-7 overall, 2-3 Iowa Conference) had surged to a 63-58 advantage after three periods and were on the brink of stealing a game on the road, but were overwhelmed 33-13 the rest of the way.
“It was really disappointing,” coach Joe Steinkamp said. “We ended the third quarter on such a high note. We were really playing well. But the first minute of the fourth quarter couldn’t have gone any worse. We missed a couple shots and they hit a couple threes and a 3-point play. Just a couple plays changed the game.”
Buena Vista (8-5 overall, 3-1 conference) hit five of its first six shots in the quarter and a scorching 70.5 percent for the period.
“They got hot but we didn’t do the things that allowed us to build a lead,” Steinkamp said. “We were getting great shots in the first three quarters but for some reason we just got stagnant.”
Central was without one of its senior leaders, forward Jackie Kriegel (Marengo, Iowa Valley HS), who remains sidelined by injury. Her presence was painfully evident on the offensive boards, where the Dutch were left staring at a 16-3 deficit and were outrebounded 43-32 overall.
“Part of the reason was we didn’t send our guards to the offensive glass because we wanted to stop their transition game,” Steinkamp said. “But we gave up way too many rebounds. It seems like they had a lot of ‘and-ones’ off rebounds, too. Those were just killers.”
The good news was senior guard Jessica Helton (Nevada) was back in the lineup after being injured in December. She came off the bench and led Central with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
“Her presence was felt immediately,” Steinkamp said. “We were able to push the ball and play at a faster speed. She had to defend a bigger wing but she fought like crazy. She’s not completely in shape yet, though. She seemed to run out of gas in the fourth quarter.”
Sophomore forward Kendall Brown (Moravia) had 12 points while guard Emily Dine (senior, Oldsmar, Fla., East Lake HS), guard Kristin Hubert (junior, Hornick, Woodbury Central HS) and forwards Tina Lane (senior, Williamsburg) each scored 11. Lane also had nine rebounds.
“Tina played well,” Steinkamp said. “She had some nice drives.”
Central shot well, hitting 52.8 percent from the field, including 12-of-27 from 3-point range, but committed 21 turnovers. Buena Vista shot 46.2 percent and mad just 10 turnovers.
Central is off until next Saturday, returning home to take on Coe College in a conference contest. The Kohawks held their own against nationally ranked Wartburg College Saturday at Cedar Rapids, but tumbled 85-75 and are 4-9 overall with a 1-3 league mark. Coe swept a pair of games from the Dutch last year.
The break is well-timed, said Steinkamp, who indicated Kriegel will resume practice Monday.
“We’ll be able to get completely healthy,” he said. “We’ll have to regroup, but one thing I know about this team is that they’ll practice hard and keep working to get better.”
Saturday’s game is part of a women’s-men’s doubleheader, tipping off at 2 p.m. at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. A video webcast and live stats can be accessed at athletics.central.edu.
