Hurley hits 24 in Central women’s basketball road win

MILWAUKEE, WIS.—Freshman guard Kelsea Hurley (Scottsdale, Ariz., Desert Mountain HS) established another career high with 24 points as the Central College women’s basketball team overwhelmed Mount Mary College (Wis.) 71-47 Saturday afternoon.

In a scheduling quirk, the two teams will square off again Sunday afternoon.

Hurley knocked down four 3-pointers, hit seven of 13 shots from the field and added four assists, three blocks and two steals for the Dutch (6-3).

“She had a really good game,” coach Joe Steinkamp said. “She was the only one who could get the 3-ball going but she scored all over the court and showed her entire offensive game.”

Central was only up 15-12 after the first quarter before taking a 32-22 halftime lead.

“Mount Mary came out and played really aggressive,” Steinkamp said. “It took a while for us to get into a rhythm offensively. We showed a lot more resilience in the second half. We settled down and shot better.”

Central connected on only 31.3% in the first quarter and 37.5% in the second before hitting 50.0% in the third and 41.0% for the game overall. Mount Mary (3-5) was limited to 32.1% shooting for the game.

Freshman guard Carson Fisk (Searsboro, Lynnville-Sully HS) had 11 points while forward Kendall Brown (senior, Moravia) had nine points and nine rebounds along with three blocks. Central dominated on the glass, 47-35.

“Carson did a really good job,” Steinkamp said. “She made some nice plays around the rim. Payton Rogers (junior, Moravia) and Kendall Brown drew so much pressure inside that that opened up a lot of driving lanes.”

The back end of the unique weekend series starts at 1 p.m. Sunday and wraps up Central’s pre-Christmas schedule.

“We’ll be able to make some adjustments,” Steinkamp said. “It will be good preparation for the conference season when we play teams twice. We can see what adjustments they make and how they play us.”