PELLA —Forward Claire Marburger (freshman, Perry) continued her scoring assault but the Central College women's basketball team lacked the stretch run it needed in a 70-53 setback against Wartburg College Saturday.
Marburger had 24 points as she closes in on the freshman season school scoring record. Her 391 points puts her in third place, 17 points behind the record set by Diane Shogren in 1978-79.
But Central (4-19 overall, 1-11 Iowa Conference), which trailed 32-21 at intermission and hung tough in the third quarter, faltered in the closing minutes.
"We came out and played really aggressive basketball for three-and-a-half quarters," coach Chelsea Petersen said. "But it came down to how we finished the game in the last five minutes. We stayed on defense too long because we missed box-outs. When the game got fast, we didn't execute well.
"We've just got to learn from it and get better."
Guard Jess Helton (sophomore, Nevada) played all 40 minutes.
"For Jess to play that level of defense for 40 minutes is impressive," Petersen said. "She's a spark. She gets her hand on a lot of basketballs and does so many little things. But realistically, I'd like to limit her to 35-38 minutes."
Forward Jackie Kriegel (sophomore, Marengo, Iowa Valley HS) hauled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
"Jackie Kriegel was really active," Petersen said. "She created a lot of second-chance opportunities."
Marburger knocked down 12 of 14 free throws, pulled down eight rebounds and had three steals.
"Claire was really aggressive, attacked the rim and was able to draw fouls," Petersen said.
Wartburg (17-6 overall, 7-5 conference) outrebounded Central 46-37.
It was the home season finale for the Dutch, who must journey to Dubuque twice in four days, taking on Loras Wednesday at 6 p.m. in a women's-men's doubleheader before closing at Dubuque next Saturday.
"We've talked a lot about finishing the right way," Petersen said. "We understand the degree of difficulty in making two trips to Dubuque. Loras is one of the top teams in the conference and Dubuque is playing well. We've got to set small goals for ourselves and then celebrate reaching them. Those things are really important."
