Central women’s basketball team sprints past Luther
PELLA—With points from every player on the roster, the Central College women’s basketball team sent out its seniors with a 87-55 romp past Luther College Saturday.
The Dutch (5-2) rolled up 52 points in the second and third quarters to blast open a contest that was tied 14-14 after the first period.
“Luther’s a really physical team and they kind of want to grind you out in the half court,” coach Joe Steinkamp said. “In the first quarter, we kind of played the game at Luther’s temp, but after that, we really started pushing the ball.”
It was the final regular-season home game for Dutch seniors Sami Craig (Altoona, Southeast Polk HS), Bryce Gittleson (Ashton, Ill., Ashton-Franklin Center HS), Emily Hay (Lowden, North Cedar HS), Cynthia Rangel (San Antonio, Texas, William J. Brennan HS) and Payton Rogers (Moravia).
“It was a special way for them to have Senior Night,” coach Joe Steinkamp said. “And for us to get back to playing how we know we can play, especially offensively. I was really happy with how we shared the ball. We had 27 assists.”
Guard Maci Gambell (junior, Hedrick, Pekin HS) had 16 points off the bench while guard Kelsea Hurley (sophomore, Scottsdale, Ariz., Desert Mountain HS) had 13 and guard Carson Fisk (sophomore, Searsboro, Lynnville-Sully HS) and Craig each scored 10. Craig also had a team-high seven rebounds.
“More than anything it was a team effort,” Steinkamp said. “We had good balance.”
Central hit a scorching 62.5% from the field in the third quarter and shot 47.7% for the night. The Dutch were edged on the boards 37-35 by Luther (0-9 overall, 0-8 American Rivers), which shot 35.8%. Central blocked six shots, including two each by Hay and Rogers.
Central closes the regular season Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, the team’s fourth game in eight days. The Kohawks are 6-3 overall and 5-2 in league play after a 64-54 home-court win over Nebraska Wesleyan University Saturday. Coe has a 14-game win streak against Central in the teams’ series stretching back to Jan. 31, 2013.
“Monday will be another good test for us,” Steinkamp said. “Coe’s a very veteran team. We’ve had some really good games against them over the years but we haven’t been able to knock them off in a while. We’re looking forward to playing them again.”
The Dutch will then get a break before the league tournament March 8-13. Saturday’s win puts Central in strong position for a first-round home game.
“That was one of our goals coming into the year so that’s exciting,” Steinkamp said.
He again saluted his senior class for leading the way.
“I really appreciate what the senior class has meant to our program and how hard they’ve worked,” he said. “Even in a challenging season, they kept working hard every day.”
