STORM LAKE — Sophomore guardEmily Dine (Oldsmar, Fla./East Lake HS) poured in double-digit points for the fourth consecutive game, tallying 18, but the Central College women's basketball team fell 99-45 at Buena Vista Saturday.
After falling behind early, the Dutch (4-13, 1-5 Iowa Conference) were much more efficient in the second half, connecting on 39 percent of shots, compared to a 17 percent clip in the opening 20 minutes. Central made four of its five 3-pointers in the second half, going 44 percent from deep after a 9-percent performance in the first half.
"We had much better control and poise in the second half," coach Chelsea Petersen said. "We made some great passes and read the defense well."
The Beavers (10-7, 4-2 conference) shot 46 percent (33-for-72) from the field and 35 percent (14-for-40) from behind the arc, while Central was 29 percent (15-for-52) overall and 25 percent (5-for-20) from 3-point range.
"We've had a couple of games in a row that we haven't played good defense," Petersen said. "It all starts on the defensive end and we haven't executed when we needed to."
Missing a solid defender in sophomore guard Jessica Helton (Nevada) due to illness didn't help.
"Obviously, we missed Jessica's presence on the defensive end today," Petersen said. "But we have players who are more than capable of stepping up and getting stops and that didn't happen."
Central yielded 20 offensive rebounds to the Beavers, leading to 20 second-chance points. The Dutch grabbed 31 total rebounds, while Buena Vista came down with 56.
"We didn't do a good job containing (Buena Vista's) penetration and boxing them out," Petersen said.
The Beavers scored 35 points off 22 Central turnovers and the Buena Vista bench outscored the Dutch reserves 36-10.
Dine was 7-of-13 from the field and connected on 4-of-8 from behind the arc, while sophomore forward Jackie Kriegel (Marengo/Iowa Valley HS) grabbed 10 rebounds and added five points.
"We had stretches where players played really well," Petersen said. "But those stretches weren't long enough."
Petersen isn't going to let her team lose confidence.
"In the game of basketball, games like today are going to happen," she said. "We have to put this out of our minds and come back with the right approach and mentality next week."
Central will host Simpson at 6 p.m. Wednesday in P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium, the front end of a women's-men's twinbill. Live video and stats will be available at central.edu/athletics.
"Playing against Buena Vista's 2-3 zone today should prepare us well for Simpson," Petersen said. "Our team will get healthy and we can put ourselves in a position to win Wednesday."
