Gambell’s 20 spark Central to women’s basketball road win
JACKSONVILLE, ILL.—Forced away from its inside strength, the Central College women’s basketball team turned to other scoring options and put four players in double figures in a 74-64 victory at Illinois College Wednesday night.
Illinois College (2-2) aimed most of its defensive attention on Central’s leading scorer, forward Kendall Brown (senior, Moravia) and limited her to four points on just two shots.
“Illinois College is big and extremely physical,” coach Joe Steinkamp said. “They really made other people beat them and the team did a good job of taking what the defense gave them. We had a lot of people stepping up and making shots when we needed to.”
Sophomore guard Maci Gambell (Hedrick, Pekin HS) delivered 20 points, one off her career high, and grabbed eight rebounds with three steals to lead the Dutch (3-1) to their second road win.
“Maci had a great game,” coach Joe Steinkamp said. “She was able to score in a lot of different ways, taking 3’s, getting to the line and driving to the basket. She had a good all-around game on both ends of the court.”
Central also got 12 points from guards Emily Hay (junior, Stanwood, North Cedar HS) and Carson Fisk (freshman, Searsboro, Lynnville-Sully HS) and 11 from guard Kelsea Hurley (freshman, Scottsdale, Ariz., Desert Mountain HS).
Hay also had six rebounds, four steals, three blocks and two assists.
“Emily played awesome all night long,” Steinkamp said. “She was really good defensively. She had tons of deflections and three blocks. You don’t really think of her as a shot blocker but she did a good job.”
Central was up 31-21 at intermission but Illinois College cut the margin to 44-41 late in the third period. But the Dutch responded to the threat by shooting 72.7% from the field in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
“It was really good for us to face a pressure situation like that,” Steinkamp said. “But once they made that run, we kind of caught fire and made four big 3’s in the fourth quarter.”
Central outshot the Lady Blues 42.9% to 35.0% to overcome a 47-32 rebounding deficit.
The Dutch have three games in four days, traveling to Mankato, Minnesota for a Friday game with Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) at 6 p.m. The Vikings won at Central last year, 69-53 and are off to a 4-0 start.
“They’re playing at an extremely high level,” Steinkamp said. “They have a good offensive team. We’ll have to get ready for them tomorrow. It will be another road challenge.”
