Early lead slips away from Dutch women’s basketball team
Central College
PELLA — Three Central College women’s basketball players scored in double-figures in a 63-51 loss Wednesday night to Loras College.
Central (8-6 overall, 1-4 Iowa Conference) led 19-17 after the first period but surrendered the lead 24-23 with 4:36 left in the first half and the Dutch never overcame the deficit.
“I felt like we weren’t aggressive enough tonight,” said coach Chelsea Petersen.
Sophomore forward Claire Marburger (Perry) led Central with 15 points, junior guard Emily Dine (Oldsmar, Fla., East Lake HS) added 12 points and junior forward Jackie Kriegel (Marengo, Iowa Valley HS) had 10 points and nine rebounds in 27 minutes.
“We have felt that Jackie has played extremely well the last three games,” said Petersen. “She has played great defense and brought a lot of energy to the floor.”
Loras (8-7 overall, 2-4 Iowa Conference) owned the boards with 50 rebounds, 24-offensive rebounds, compared to the Dutch 23 total rebounds. Central shot 39.2% from the field, slightly above the Duhawks 34.4%.
“Offensive rebounding was a key for Loras,” said Petersen. “We gave up too many offensive rebounds and it led to them getting more shots. In a game that’s close, you aren’t going to be able to give up that many extra shots.”
The Dutch have dropped five of their last six games.
Central heads to Waverly Saturday to continue Iowa Conference play against nationally ranked Wartburg College in a women’s-men’s doubleheader with the women beginning at 2 p.m. Wartburg enters the contest ranked no. 9 by the WBCA and no. 10 by d3hoops.com. The Knights are coming off an 85-74 road victory over Buena Vista.
