Wartburg 3’s drain Central women
Central College
WAVERLY—The Central College women’s basketball team couldn’t find a response for Wartburg College behind the arc as the Dutch suffered a 77-52 defeat on the road Wednesday night.
The Knights jumped out to 25-9 lead 10 minutes in but three 3-pointers, two from senior guard Jordan Waddell (Guthrie Center), helped the Dutch close the gap to six points with three minutes left in the half. Wartburg replied with a 7-2 run, taking a 37-26 advantage into intermission.
“We just had a bad start,” coach Jerry Nikkel said. “We did start playing better late in the first half and got it down to 30-24, but we only scored two after that.”
Central brought the score within single digits, 43-34, six minutes into the second half but that was as close as the Dutch would get as Wartburg worked up a 24-point with 10 minutes left to play.
Wartburg shot 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from 3-point range and hit 4-of-5 second-half 3 pointers. The Knights were 50 percent from the floor after intermission compared to Central’s chilly 16.7 percent.
“We didn’t defend the 3 real well and that hurt us,” coach Nikkel said. “And in the second half, our defense let us down. Wartburg had several easy shots. We were not contesting them well enough.”
Central (4-15, 1-9 conference) won the turnover battle with 16 compared to Wartburg’s 20, but the Knights (16-3, 7-3 conference) held a 47-30 rebounding edge.
“They had 16 offensive rebounds so they had a lot of second chances,” coach Nikkel said.
Forward Haley Brillhart (junior, Pella) led the Dutch with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Waddell and guard Sarah Paulson (junior, Ottumwa) added six points and Waddell also collected five rebounds. Guard Alyssa Schwartz (Titonka, WCLT HS) had four steals. Starter Annie Sarcone (freshman, guard, Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS) was sidelined due to injury.
Central takes on Coe College, defending Iowa Conference co-champs, Saturday for a league women’s-men’s doubleheader in Cedar Rapids, starting at 2 p.m. The Kohawks are 16-2 overall with an 8-1 conference mark. The Kohawks edged past the Dutch 66-61 in Pella Jan. 8, with four straight free throws in the final 24 seconds.
“Coe’s really hitting its stride,” coach Nikkel said. “They’re one of the hottest teams in the league and they had the night off tonight so they’ll be ready to go.”
