DECORAH—Offense was in short supply again Wednesday night as the Central College women's basketball team succumbed to Luther College's full-court pressure and was saddled with a 79-41 defeat.
Central mustered just 20% first-quarter shooting in falling behind 17-7. The Dutch (8-5 overall, 0-4 American Rivers) trailed 33-18 at intermission and Luther removed any doubt with a 24-8 third quarter for a lopsided 57-26 advantage.
Central hit a respectable 41.7% for the fourth period but still hit only 32.6% for the night and failed to place any players in double figures. But even more glaring was the team's season-high 37 turnovers.
Luther (6-5 overall, 4-0 conference) shot 44.1% from the field. Central did hold a 39-35 rebounding advantage.
"Luther's pressure was really aggressive," coach
Joe Steinkamp said. "I thought in the first half we defended well enough and we outrebounded them, so we showed some toughness, but we just didn't handle their pressure very well."
Forward
Kendall Brown (senior, Moravia) had eight points, four rebounds and a block for the Dutch. She was 4-of-4 from the field but drew plenty of defensive attention in limiting her shot attempts and her floor time was restricted by foul problems.
"Luther has a veteran team that starts five seniors who have won a lot of games," Steinkamp said. "And they're really good defensively."
The Dutch travel to Indianola to meet Simpson College Saturday for a women's-men's doubleheader, with the women's game tipping off at 5:30 p.m. Simpson is 10-3 overall and 2-2 in the league after trouncing the University of Dubuque 101-55 Wednesday night.
"Hopefully we learned some things that will carry over," Steinkamp said. "Simpson plays a different style in the half court but they still have that pressure defense like Luther."
Saturday's game will be broadcast on KRLS-FM (92.1) via kniakrls.com with Jon Mohwinkle calling the action.
The lessons can be harsh for a team as young as Central's, but opportunities remain ahead.
"We just have to try to keep everybody positive and remind them it's a long season," Steinkamp said. "We have to stay together and learn from our mistakes. There's still a lot of basketball to be played."
