GRINNELL—Opening on the road with three rookie starters led to predictable but nonetheless disappointing results for the Central College women's basketball team Monday night.
           
The Dutch stumbled out of the gates, falling behind 17-2 in the first 5 minutes and tumbled at Grinnell College, 80-66.
           
Central hit just four-of-21 first-quarter shots (19.0%) and trailed 21-14. Grinnell (2-0) stretched the advantage to 47-36 at intermission.
           
"Grinnell did a great job," coach Joe Steinkamp said. "They played with a lot of energy to start the game. After that it was a pretty even game, we just dug too deep of a hole early. But I think we definitely showed some positives. We took care of the ball and I felt like, for the most part, we got good shots throughout the night."
           
Central leaned heavily on its most experienced player, two-time all-conference guard Kelsea Hurley (junior, Scottsdale, Ariz., Desert Mountain HS), who posted a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds. The other veteran in the starting lineup, forward Kassidi Steel (sophomore, New Sharon, North Mahaska HS) had 11 points and six boards.
           
"Kelsea had a nice game offensively," Steinkamp said. "She scored a lot of different ways again for us.
           
"But we have to be better defensively. That was the biggest message. We gave up 47 points in the first half and we're just not going to win very many games doing that."
             
Freshman center Allison Van Gorp (Pella, Pella Christian HS) had 10 rebounds in just 21 minutes in her collegiate debut while adding seven points. The other freshman starters, guards Alayna Akiona (Honolulu, Hawaii, Kalani HS) and Hannah Dau (freshman, Paullina, South O'Brien HS) combined for just eight points.
           
"It's going to take some time," Steinkamp said.
           
The Dutch struggled from long range, hitting only 4 of 27 3-point tries (14.8%).
           
"We shot it really poorly from three," Steinkamp said. "We think that's going to be a strength of our team. We missed a lot of free throws, too (hitting 12-of-20). So it was just a really bad shooting performance."
           
Central travels to Cedar Rapids for a pair of neutral-site games in the Coe College Tournament this weekend. Friday the Dutch meet Augustana College (Ill.) at 5 p.m. before meeting Westminster College (Mo.) Saturday. Augustana was 4-6 last winter and plays its season opener Tuesday.
           
"Augie is a really physical team," Steinkamp said. "They're a little different than Grinnell. They play a little bit more of a half-court game. They're extremely big and extremely physical inside. We'll definitely have to defend at a higher level to have a chance."