MANKATO, MINN. — After trailing by as many as 18 points in the latter parts of the third quarter, the Central College women's basketball team stormed back, but could not complete the comeback at Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) Saturday night.
All hope looked lost for the young Dutch when they were down 57-39 to the Vikings with just over a minute to play in the third until Central went on a 20-5 run to cut the deficit to 62-59 at the 3:12 mark of the fourth quarter. But Dutch succumbed late and fell 74-65.
In the midst of the comeback, three Dutch players fouled out, forcing Petersen to go deep in the bench.
"It didn't put the team in a great position for our overall rotation in the closing minutes of the game," Petersen said.
Combine that with Vikings guard Haley Sandin scoring 31 points and it's not a recipe for success.
"Sandin has come in as a freshman and filled their team with energy," Petersen said. "Our defensive approach fell short and we need to improve that. We let two of their players score 50 of 74 points."
Adding 27 turnovers doesn't help.
"You can't turn the ball over that many times and expect to win the game," Petersen said. "A big area of improvement for our young team is focus. We need everyone to have a greater attention to detail."
Freshman forward Claire Marburger (Perry, Iowa) was a bright spot for Central. She went for her second double-double in three games, scoring 28 points on 11-for-17 shooting and bringing down 15 boards. Marburger also tallied three blocks and a pair of steals.
"Claire was phenomenal," Petersen said. "She was a dominant player tonight and made great reads. She put the team in a great position to win coming down the stretch."
Two other freshmen also caught Petersen's eye.
Guard Kaitlyn Johnson (Stockport, Iowa/Van Buren HS) notched 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and added two steals. Guard Kristin Hubert (Moville, Iowa/Woodbury Central HS) came off the bench due to foul trouble and scored seven points.
"Kristin has been practicing really well," said Petersen. "She played quite a few minutes and did everything we needed her to do."
While the comeback was a positive, Petersen wants to see that kind of play more consistently.
"We played with a greater sense of urgency and purpose during that time," she said. "The players made great decisions and it's the only time everyone came together and made the right reads. We have to put those runs together more often to be successful."
The Dutch will have some time to prepare for their next game, coming Friday at St. Olaf (Minn.) at 3 p.m. It will be the first of two games Central will play at the St. Olaf-Carleton Thanksgiving Classic. The Dutch will take on Carleton next Saturday at 1 p.m.
"We will have four full days of practice," Petersen said. "The focus this week will be how to execute details. That will be a key component to our success next weekend and moving forward."
