PELLA—A young Central College women's basketball team kept No. 7 Wartburg College within reach in the first half but had no answer to a third-quarter assault in a 103-69 setback Wednesday.
           
The Dutch (5-3 overall, 0-2 American Rivers) rallied from an early 16-5 deficit and a Kelsea Hurley (freshman, Scottsdale, Ariz., Desert Mountain HS) 3-pointer pulled them within 40-36 with 2:33 left in the half. But Wartburg (5-1 overall, 1-0 conference) stretched its lead to 49-39 at the break, then used its transition game for a 32-12 third-quarter blitz to end any drama.
           
"I was happy with how we played offensively most of the night," coach Joe Steinkamp said. "But Wartburg just played really well. They pushed at a pace that gave us problems and made us pay when we made mistakes. They got us in scramble mode."
           
Guard Maci Gambell (sophomore, Hedrick, Pekin HS) had 15 points while freshman guard Carson Fisk (Searsboro, Lynnville-Sully HS) had 13 and Hurley had 12. Forward Kendall Brown (senior, Moravia) added nine points with a team-high seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
           
"Carson had a good all-around game," Steinkamp said. "Maci Gambell, Kelsea Hurley and Emily Hay (junior, Stanwood, North Cedar HS) shot the 3-ball pretty well. That continues to be a bright spot. And Kendall Brown had another good game. We just weren't able to get her the ball enough."
           
Wartburg outshot Central 51.5% to 41.1% and dominated in rebounds, 44-24, getting 17 offensive boards.
           
"We couldn't get them in a half-court game," Steinkamp said. "When we did, we forced some tougher shots."
           
Central travels to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for back-to-back games at Mount Mary University (Wis.) Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. The contests were originally scheduled as part of a tournament that failed to materialize, leaving the teams to play an encore contest on the second day. Central won the teams' only previous meeting, in December, 2016. The Blue Angels fell to 3-4 Wednesday after getting overwhelmed at the No. 23 University of Chicago, 74-23.
           
"We haven't spent any time preparing for them yet," Steinkamp said. "We'll spend the next couple of days on that. We're just excited to be able to travel and try getting back to our winning ways.
           
"We've played two of the best teams in the league. We're not there yet. We just have to continue to learn from our mistakes and continue to try to make our positives better."