PELLA—Freshman Allison Van Gorp (Pella, Pella Christian HS) posted her first double-double as the Central College women's basketball team outlasted Concordia University -Chicago 69-61 in a twice-delayed home season opener Tuesday.
           
Two previous home games were called off due to health/safety issues with the visiting team, resulting in Central playing its latest home season opener since 2001-02, with the exception of last year's abbreviated campaign which launched in January.
           
"It's unusual to have your home opener in December," coach Joe Steinkamp said. "But it's great to finally be able to play at home."
           
The Dutch (2-4) found the home rims to their liking in the early going, bolting to a 20-4 lead in the first 7:30. But Concordia-Chicago (3-4) responded with a 10-0 run to make it 20-14 at the end of the period.
           
"That's two games in a row that we got off to a good start," Steinkamp said. "In the first few games, that was the quarter that was getting to us. So it was good to see us start off on a good note and really start shooting the ball better from the perimeter. When people are making threes that really helps open it up inside for Allison (Van Gorp) and our other post players."
           
Concordia-Chicago climbed to as close as 26-25 but Central stretched it to 34-25 at intermission and led wire-to-wire. Yet the Dutch had to hold off several runs.
           
"They got hot," Steinkamp said. "They really started hitting threes. I think there was a stretch where they hit four-out-of-five threes. They had some good shooters."
           
The Cougars hit just 31.9% from the floor but were 42.9% from 3-point range, knocking down 12 3-pointers.
           
Van Gorp finished with 20 points on nine-of-13 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds while blocking two shots.
           
"Another 20/10 game for Allison, you just don't see freshmen do that very often," Steinkamp said. "She's just really tough to handle on the low block. She's getting better every day. She's learning how to seal and has great touch around the rim."
           
Guard Kelsea Hurley (junior, Scottsdale, Ariz., Desert Mountain HS) had 17 points, five assists and nine rebounds and freshman guard Alayna Akiona (Honolulu, Hawaii, Kalani HS) added 12 points on four 3-point buckets. Steinkamp also cited guard Kassidi Steel (sophomore, New Sharon, North Mahaska HS) who had seven points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals.
           
"She had a great all-around game," Steinkamp said. "And Kelsea (Hurley) was steady throughout the game as well."
           
Central shot 46.6% from the field and outrebounded Concordia-Chicago 48-36.
           
Central returns to American Rivers action for one more pre-Christmas contest Saturday, playing host to Coe College in a women's-men's doubleheader tipping off at 2 p.m. at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. The Kohawks are 3-5 overall and 0-3 in league play.
           
"Coe is a little bit like us with a mix of freshmen and returners," Steinkamp said. "We were able to see them at their tournament when we played there (Nov. 12-13) and they had a nice win over Westminster (Mo.) that weekend. They're a really good shooting team and always a solid defensive team in the half court."
           
A live webcast of both Saturday contests can be accessed via athletics.central.edu and the games will also be broadcast with Jon Mohwinkle and Shaffer Landuyt (freshman, Norwalk) calling the action on KRLS-FM (92.1) and via kniakrls.com.
           
Forfeit/no contest—The cancelation of the Dec. 1 game with Nebraska Wesleyan University is considered a forfeit in conference play, so the Dutch are credited with a victory in the league standings. However, it is not included in the team's overall won-loss record and does not affect season statistics.