Hubert comes through in Central women’s basketball win

Central Dutch Athletics

Central Dutch Athletics

PELLA—A pair of freshmen helped fuel the Central College women’s basketball offense but it was a senior who delivered at the finish in a 70-64 victory over Millikin University (Ill.) Saturday afternoon.

Guard Maci Gambell (freshman, Hedrick, Pekin HS) had 17 points and nine rebounds off the bench in her second collegiate game while guard Jenna Clark (freshman, Story City, Roland-Story HS) had 13 points and eight boards.

But senior guard Kristin Hubert (Hornick, Iowa, Woodbury Central HS) knocked down a 3-pointer to end a 10-0 Millikin run and give Central (2-0) the lead back at 57-55 with 6:12 remaining, then hit four free throws in the final 16 seconds to put the game away. She finished with 15 points, three assists and two steals.

“Kristin’s been a great leader for us,” coach Joe Steinkamp said. “She stepped up and made some clutch plays. She puts a lot of extra time in and she was rewarded today.”

Central led 36-28 at the half and was up 54-45 with 1:12 left in the third quarter before a Millikin surge resulted in a 55-54 deficit with under 7 minutes remaining when Huber answered.

It was an encouraging finish for the young squad with four new starters.

“We’ve had two games and both had points in the fourth quarter when we were losing, but we stuck with it and got the victory,” Steinkamp said. “It wasn’t always pretty but every time they got close or took the lead, we responded.”

The not pretty part included 28 Central turnovers.

“In the first game, we had more aggressive-type turnovers but today, we had a lot of careless turnovers that led to baskets,” Steinkamp said. “We need to continue to get better at taking care of the ball. But I think this is a skilled team. We’ll get better.”

More impressive was Central’s surprising dominance on the boards, outrebounding Millikin (0-1) 55-31. Center Kendall Brown (junior, Moravia) had 12 rebounds. The Dutch lack size but not energy.

“Our whole team was able to contribute on the glass,” Steinkamp said. “Our guards are really good rebounders and that helps. That definitely is an emphasis for us. We really attacked the glass the first couple games, especially on offense.”

Steinkamp expects to see continued offensive strides from his freshmen and wasn’t surprised by Gambell’s showing.

“We knew she had this type of game in her, with her ability to go inside and outside,” he said. “I loved her nine rebounds, too. That was key. She’s really aggressive, really physical and kind of has a knack for the ball.”

He also cited Clark.

“I really thought Jess had a good all-around game,” he said. “She kept a lot of possessions alive, made a lot of deflections and had some clutch drives late. She’s a really good 3-point shooter, too, and it’s a matter of time until she starts knocking those down.”

Central shot 37.9 percent to Millikin’s 36.5 percent and came up with 12 steals.

Central is home again for a pair of games next week, starting Wednesday with a 7 p.m. contest at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium with Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.). The Dutch also play host to Augustana College (Ill.) next Saturday at 2 p.m.

Bethany Lutheran is 2-0 after getting a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to top Mayville State (N.D.) 87-86 Saturday, erupting for 31 fourth-quarter points. The Vikings were 20-7 a year ago and swept a pair of games against Central last year, 79-72 and 82-74, both at Mankato, Minnesota.

“They have basically the same team back this year,” Steinkamp said. “They’ve got a couple of good guards and a really good post player. They’ll be the best team we’ve played so far.”

A video webcast and live stats of Wednesday’s game are available through the Central athletics website at athletics.central.edu.

Posted by on Nov 11 2018. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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