PELLA — A back-and-forth battle ensued but the Central College women's basketball team fell 80-71 to Nebraska Wesleyan Monday evening.

Central (8-9 overall, 1-7 Iowa Conference) led the Prairie Wolves 30-28 at the half but Nebraska Wesleyan (9-8 overall, 3-6 Iowa Conference) utilized a 52-point second half to edge the Dutch.

"We felt really good about our defensive execution in the first half," said coach Chelsea Petersen. "Offensively, we felt like we could have gotten a few more things in the first half."

Sophomore forward Claire Marburger (Perry) had 21 points, six rebounds and three assists, junior guard Emily Dine (Oldsmar Fla., East Lake HS) added 16 points off 6-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and junior guard Alison Malaby (Mechanicsville, North Cedar HS) had 15 points and four steals.

"I thought Alison was tremendous in the second half tonight, almost willing our team back," said Petersen.

Nebraska Wesleyan controlled the rebound battle 37-20 but Central outshot the Prairie Wolves 56 percent to 45.9 percent.

"We gave up way too many second-chance points in the second half," said Petersen.

The Dutch have dropped seven straight games.

Central continues league play Wednesday night with a women's-men's doubleheader at the University of Dubuque with the women beginning at 6 p.m. The Dutch defeated Dubuque (7-11 overall, 3-6 conference) 64-51 at home earlier this season. The Spartans took down Luther 81-80 Monday night.