Dutch extend women’s basketball winning streak to three games
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA — A balanced-scoring attack propelled the Central College women’s basketball team to an 81-64 victory over Iowa Wesleyan Saturday afternoon.
With its third consecutive win, Central improves to 5-3 overall while Iowa Wesleyan falls to 0-8.
“Even though Iowa Wesleyan doesn’t have a win yet, they’ve played a tough schedule and are extremely well coached,” said coach Joe Steinkamp. “They have several different players that can shoot it.”
Central had four players in double-figures with sophomore forward Kendall Brown (Moravia) leading the way with 14 points and seven rebounds.
“It was nice to get Kendall going today,” said Steinkamp. “She had a good matchup down low and we were able to take advantage of it.”
Senior forward Jackie Kriegel (Marengo, Iowa Valley HS) had 12 points and seven rebounds, senior guard Jessica Helton (Nevada) had 12 points, four assists and zero turnovers and forward Tina Lane (Williamsburg) had 12 points off the bench.
“At the beginning of the year we felt we had a team that opponents couldn’t key on one person and that showed tonight with four different people in double-figures,” said Steinkamp.
Central raced out to a 20-6 lead in the first quarter but Iowa Wesleyan battled back to cut the lead to six heading into the second half. However, a 30-point Dutch third quarter was too much to overcome for the Tigers.
The Dutch won the battle on the glass 37-33 and outshot the Tigers 47.8 percent to 41.5. Central dominated the paint, scoring 48 points, including 12 off offensive rebounds.
Central turned up the defense as well, forcing 21 Iowa Wesleyan turnovers, which led to 23 points.
The Cruzin Classic awaits the Dutch next, as they fly to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. for games against Kalamazoo College and Wis.-Whitewater December 18 and 19. Tipoff with Kalamazoo is at 1 p.m. Eastern Time while the game with Wis.-Whitewater begins at 4 p.m. Eastern Time.
“I think everyone is ready for the trip and get into some warmer weather,” said Steinkamp. “We’re going to face two really good teams and it’ll be a nice challenge for us.”
