Central women’s basketball squad capture OT victory

Central College

GRINNELL — Making a 13-point comeback in the second half, pushing the game into overtime, the Central College women’s basketball team closed out an 80-71 win in its opening contest against Grinnell College Friday night.

The Dutch maintained a balanced game for the first eight minutes before allowing the Pioneers to take the lead. Grinnell led Central by 13 points with just 5:44 remaining in the first half, but two free throws, three field goals and an assist by guard Kenzie Vander Molen (junior, Pella) put the Dutch within five points. The Dutch left the half down by just one point, 31-30.

“We started the game with defensive intensity,” said interim head coach Chelsea Peterson. “The team ran down the shot clock and stayed poised through a lot of the first half. Our offense executed well, but once the game started to speed up, we struggled to slow it back down.

“We started taking early shots and not running down the clock. We didn’t have enough patience to develop an offensive shot.”

The Pioneers came out recharged and took a larger lead with the Dutch trailing 51-40 with 11:58 left in regulation. Central whittled the gap with four free throw shots and two layups by forward Jessy Sticka (senior, Cresco, Crestwood HS). The Dutch went on a 13-0 scoring run and led 53-51 with 5:57 minutes remaining.

“We made some defensive adjustments at halftime,” Peterson said. “We really wanted to focus on staying poised and boxing out.”

With a defensive strategy in mind, Central refused to relinquish the lead and remained ahead by four points with just over a minute remaining. But two rebounds by the Pioneers from their own free throw line cost the Dutch the lead and regulation ended in a tie, 66-66. In overtime, the Dutch sprinted to a 70-66 lead and never lost control of the game.

“Both teams kept fighting the second half,” said Peterson. “After we gained the lead, Grinnell stayed with us. I really commend Grinnell’s head coach, Dana Harrold. She did a great job of coaching the team.

“Fortunately, all the things we had been talking about came together in overtime. It was a total team effort in the final minutes.”

The Dutch narrowly lost the rebound battle 45-43, but Central’s field goal percentage was 48.1 percent for the game compared to Grinnell’s 31.4 percent.

Guard Rachel Evans (junior, Fort Dodge) fueled the Dutch offense with a team-high 18 points. Evans fired off 10 of 14 free throws and made 67 percent of her field goals. Vander Molen and Emily Neff (guard, freshman, Cedar Falls) tallied 15 points each. Neff also led the team with 12 rebounds.

“Kenzie did a tremendous job of leading the floor,” Peterson said. “I have to give her a lot of credit from remaining poised and slowing down our offense. Emily came out in the first game of her career and hit some big shots, and Rachel also did really well offensively for us tonight.”

Sticka had 11 points and seven rebounds while guard Kaitlin Stump (sophomore, Lancaster, Mo., Schuyler R-1 HS) had six points.

“Jessy was great at post and was really aggressive,” said Peterson. “And Kaitlin did well cutting hard and making some big defense stops.

“It’s really difficult to pinpoint just a few players because everyone stepped up,” she said. “All the players on the floor, the coaches and the ladies on the bench contributed to the win. I am so proud of all of them for staying together as a team. They played a phenomenal season opener.”

The Dutch have just a few days to prepare for their next match up Tuesday night against Blackburn College (Ill.). Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. at the P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium.