EAU CLAIRE, WIS. – The Central College women's basketball team landed the opening blow, but then a veteran University of Wisconsin-Stout squad turned up the defensive intensity as the Dutch tumbled 68-49 in the Wisconsin-Eau Claire Tip-Off Tournament Friday.
           
In the season opener for both teams, Wis.-Stout was staggered by Central's 11-0 opening run as the Dutch needed just 2:37 to score their first 11 points, getting three 3-pointers.
           
"One of the biggest problems last year was starting slow, especially on the road," coach Justin Weiland said. "So it was nice to see us come out with a quick nine."
Wis.-Stout returned three all-conference players from an 18-8 squad that shared the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference title. Central countered with a starting lineup that included two freshmen making their first collegiate appearances, guard Emily Naughton (Indianola) and forward Kaityln Mumm (Des Moines, Christian HS). And it was the head coaching debut for Weiland.
           
After the opening flurry, the Dutch managed just six points the rest of the half and trailed 35-20 at intermission. Central put up just eight shots in the second quarter against a stifling Wis.-Stout defense.
           
"We were just undisciplined," Weiland said. "They turned up the pressure a little bit and were switching everything. We got a little shocked by that and stopped being aggressive."
           
Weiland liked how the Dutch responded in the third quarter as they sliced a 17-point lead to 46-38 before faltering.
           
"Our focus coming into the third quarter was there's no 15-point shot, so it's going to be a couple of stops, a couple of buckets and slowly chip away at it," he said. "We just needed to play aggressive and play downhill and we did that, we got it to eight there for a second."
                       
The Dutch actually outshot Wis.-Stout from the floor, 42.5% to 39.7% but the Blue Devils put up 23 more shots. Central committed 25 turnovers and was outrebounded 34-29.
           
Guard Samantha Scott (junior, Davenport, North Scott HS) had 10 points while Naughton added nine. Guard Abby Johnson (senior, Ankeny) had six rebounds.
           
Central's inexperience showed at times against a talented foe, Weiland said.
            
"It's no surprise they were picked second in the WIAC," he said. "They've got a lot of seniors that have been running the same system for four years. We've got some talented upperclassmen but we've got to remember that they've been running three different systems in three years at Central.
           
"There were a lot of really good things that I saw. We saw glimpses and now just a lot of things that we need to continue to work on."
           
Central takes on tourney host Wisconsin-Eau Claire Saturday at 6 p.m. The Blugolds took on the University of Puget Sound (Wash.) in Friday's other contest. They're coming off a 20-9 campaign that ended with an NCAA Division III tourney appearance.