Central pulls women’s basketball stunner over Loras
PELLA—It’s more than talk.
The Central College women’s basketball team provided tangible evidence of its dramatic progress with a stunning 69-54 upset of NCAA Division III tournament veteran Loras College Saturday afternoon.
Overcoming a wobbly start that had the Dutch (3-0 overall, 3-0 American Rivers) dazed, trailing 14-4 just 5 minutes into the game, Central rolled up a 65-40 advantage the rest of the way.
Loras (2-2 overall, 0-1 American Rivers) suffered significant graduation losses from last year’s 25-4 squad which advanced to the national sweet 16 before the NCAA pulled the tourney plug due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Duhawks were still tabbed for second in the league in the preseason. And they added a Division I transfer, Sami Martin, who had 25 points and 12 rebounds Saturday.
But Central countered with a wave of contributors and not only survived the relentless Loras full-court press but attacked it and snapped a 10-game losing streak against the Duhawks.
“When we got down 14-4, it was just kind of the initial shock of their press,” coach Joe Steinkamp said. “But once we made a little bit of a tweak to the press break, we got good shots pretty much the rest of the night. We didn’t always convert them and we didn’t finish as well as could at times. But we had nine turnovers in that first quarter and only 11 for the rest of the game.”
Steinkamp was quick to credit first-year assistant coach Kayla Engelhard.
“Kayla is in charge of our press offense and that was a big reason we won,” Steinkamp said.
Central clawed to within 18-17 after one quarter but was up 39-30 at intermission. The Dutch expanded the gap to 46-32 before Loras made its run. It was 48-43 after three quarters but the young Dutch refused to let it slip away, putting up a 21-point fourth period.
“We talked about it at halftime,” Steinkamp said. “We knew they were a pressing team and they were going to make a run and we just said when they do, we need to put another one back on them. We kept attacking and we weren’t afraid of the press like we have been sometimes in years past.”
The Dutch used 10 players and got an especially effective game off the bench from senior point guard Cynthia Rangel (San Antonio, Texas, William J. Brennan HS).
“I thought Cynthia really did a good job when she came into the game of looking up the floor and making some really good passes,” Steinkamp said. “And then when we got it up court, that’s how Carson Fisk (sophomore, Searsboro, Lynnville-Sully HS) and Kelsey Hurley (sophomore, Scottsdale, Ariz., Desert Mountain HS) were able to get some of their baskets, finishing plays on the other end.”
Hurley had 18 points and six assists while Fisk added 17 points and guard Maci Gambell (junior, Hedrick, Pekin HS) added 10. Forward Sami Craig (senior, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) had 10 rebounds while Steinkamp also cited the floor game of guard Kassidi Steel (freshman, New Sharon, North Mahaska HS) who had six assists and only one turnover in just over 10 minutes of action.
The Dutch shot 43.4% from the field to 33.9% for Loras. The rebounds were even at 32-32.
“Our bench was really big today,” Steinkamp said. “Maci (Gambell) going double figures for the second game in a row. Megan Stuhr (freshman, Sigourney) had a big basket late and played good defense as well. Sami Craig, late in the game, had some monster rebounds. And then Cynthia (Rangel) was solid all night long.
“It’s fun to be able to play a lot of people. We had nine players with double-digit minutes.”
It’s another statement triumph for the resurgent program but Steinkamp knows his club hasn’t arrived. Central is home again for another major challenge, taking on Simpson College Wednesday in a 5:30 p.m. game at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. Simpson improved to 3-0 with a 78-68 home-court win over Coe College Saturday. The Dutch dropped a pair of contests with Simpson last season.
“We haven’t spent too much time prepping for Simpson yet, but they’re a really good offensive team and good with their 2-3 zone. They had a good win against Coe today. But we’re just excited to keep playing.”
