PELLA—It took a late second-half surge to atone for an unsightly start as the Central College women's basketball team rallied for a 57-50 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan University Monday night.
           
The Dutch (4-11 overall, 2-7 American Rivers) were off target most of the first half, hitting just four-of-18 (22.2%) from the field in the first quarter and an icy 25.0% for the half as the Dutch trailed 24-19.
           
The third quarter start was even less promising as Central trailed 35-23 with 5:45 left in the period. But then the Dutch turned up the defensive pressure. A 9-0 run cut the deficit to 40-38 and a Hannah Dau (freshman, Paullina, South O'Brien HS) 3-pointer finally put Central back on top 43-42 with 9:34 remaining. The Dutch took the lead for good, 49-47, on a Kelsea Hurley (junior, Scottsdale, Ariz., Desert Mountain HS) bucket with 3:38 left.
           
"We've had a lot of games in a short amount of time and we made the decision not to practice yesterday because we thought it would be better to have a day to refresh with the week we have coming up and maybe that was a part of our slow start," coach Joe Steinkamp said. "We just didn't have it offensively in the first half. I thought we had some open shots but it seemed like none of them went down.
           
"But I really think in the second half, especially the last part of the third quarter, our offense started to come alive. Emma Wright (senior, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Memorial HS) hit a couple of big shots in there, Kelsea (Hurley) fueled our offense there for a stretch and then Annie Swaters (junior, Deepwater, Mo., Lakeland HS) came off the bench and scored in double figures for the third game in a row."
           
Hurley sparked Central with eight fourth-quarter points and finished with a game-high 17 points along with eight rebounds and four assists.
           
"A lot of her scores were late in the shot clock and those are such momentum plays," Steinkamp said. "The defense is thinking they're going to get a stop and then we score. I give Kelsea a lot of credit. She really attacked the basket strong in that second half and finished through contact."
           
Center Allison Van Gorp (freshman, Pella, Pella Christian HS) had to miss time in the second half with foul troubles but still had 11 points and nine rebounds. Swaters had 10 points and guard Kassidi Steel (sophomore, New Sharon, North Mahaska HS) had five assists.
           
Nebraska Wesleyan (4-17 overall, 2-11 conference) was limited to just 24.6% shooting for the game. Central hit 52.1% in the second half and 35.1% for the game while holding a 41-38 rebounding advantage.
           
Central, in the midst of a 10-game, 22-day flurry to close out the regular season, heads to Waverly Wednesday to meet Wartburg College, ranked No. 23 in last week's WBCA Division III poll and No.19 by D3hoops.com. The Knights (16-4 overall, 9-3 conference) shut down Central at Pella 58-35 Jan. 5.
           
The game is part of a women's-men's conference doubleheader tipping off at 6 p.m.
           
"We've just got one game in between," Steinkamp said. "We'll have another light practice tomorrow, kind of walk through some of Wartburg's stuff and then head on the road for the rest of the week. But we're excited. We keep getting better, we keep growing. We need these games because we didn't have them early on. So we're taking it one day at a time but it's kind of a fun run so far and we're excited to keep it rolling."