Early 16-point Central women’s basketball lead vanishes
DECORAH—Somewhere a switch was flipped.
The Central College women’s basketball team hit 51.7% from the field and cruised to a 43-27 lead with 2:23 left in the first half at Luther College, only to turn stone cold, tumbling to a 78-62 defeat.
Luther (8-14 overall, 5-8 American Rivers) scored the next nine points of the first half and the first 13 of the second for a game-changing 20-0 run that turned the tide. Central (5-13 overall, 3-9 conference) connected on just 23.0% of its shots the rest of the way and 34.8% for the day. Luther shot just 38.7%, ironically hitting 57.1% in the first quarter when Central took a 22-17 lead.
“That 9-0 run at the end of the first half gave Luther a big momentum swing,” coach Joe Steinkamp said. “There’s about a 6-minute span there that we’d like to get back, but it doesn’t work that way.”
The Dutch had a manageable 10 turnovers but got hurt on the offensive glass, where Luther held a 21-7 advantage, leading to a 16-3 edge in second-chance points. Central was outrebounded 40-34 overall.
“We played really well at the start but then we just could not make a shot,” Steinkamp said. “We missed a lot of shots we were making earlier. We were getting really good looks, we were going inside-outside, penetrate-and-kick-out but couldn’t hit. And even at the rim we missed some shots.
Guard Kelsea Hurley (junior, Scottsdale, Ariz., Desert Mountain HS) had 19 points while center Allison Van Gorp (freshman, Pella, Pella Christian HS) had 18 with eight rebounds and six blocked shots.
“Kelsea had a good all-around game,” Steinkamp said. “Allison did a good job going inside and also had six blocks. She did a good job on both ends.”
Steinkamp said fatigue might have finally caught up with the Dutch. They haven’t had more than two days between games in their last seven outings.
“It will be nice to not play on Monday so we can get our legs under us,” he said. “But we’re definitely getting better.”
Central embarks on its third consecutive three-game week Wednesday, taking on Buena Vista University in a women’s-men’s conference doubleheader starting at 5:30 p.m. A video webcast and live stats can be accessed at athletics.central.edu. It’s the first of three home games in four days to close the regular season. Buena Vista raced past the Dutch at Storm Lake Jan. 31, 73-52. The Beavers are 7-14 overall and 5-10 in conference play after absorbing a 98-44 pounding at home by No. 19 Wartburg College Saturday.
