INDIANOLA—Guard Samantha Scott (junior, Davenport, North Scott HS) nailed four 3-point buckets but turnovers were costly in the Central College women's basketball team's 98-63 defeat at Simpson College Wednesday.
           
It was a talking point for coach Justin Weiland prior to the contest but the Dutch (9-10 overall, 3-7 American Rivers) nonetheless committed 30 turnovers in the contest. Yet that was only part of the story, he said.
           
"It was a tough one all the way around," he said. "We were pretty sloppy with the ball in the halfcourt as much as in the frontcourt. But our defense definitely let us down, whether it was not sprinting back or not contesting threes. We were very lackadaisical tonight."
           
Simpson (11-7 overall, 6-3 conference) jumped to a 26-17 lead after one quarter, then broke it wide open, burying seven of eight 3-point tries in the second quarter and running off 21 unanswered points to make it 63-33 at intermission.
           
Scott was four of six from the field and finished with 12 points but was the only Central player to crack double figures. Center Allison Van Gorp (junior, Pella, Pella Christian HS) had six rebounds. The Dutch were outshot 56.5% to 33.3% from the field and outrebounded 41-36.
           
"It's over," Weiland said. "We'll let it hurt for a little bit and then we've got to move on and get ready for a great Coe College team. They're playing great basketball."
             
Central travels to Cedar Rapids for Saturday's rematch with Coe. It's a women's-men's doubleheader, with the women's game starting at 4 p.m. instead of the traditional 2 p.m. start. The Kohawks are 15-4 overall and 6-4 in conference action after a 60-58 loss at Dubuque against nationally ranked Loras College Wednesday. Coe escaped Central 65-63 in the teams' first season meeting at Pella Dec. 9.
           
"We just need to play the way that we know how and that's with a different level of aggressiveness, a different level of physicality, a different level of toughness," Weiland said. "We know that we can defend at a high level, we just didn't do that tonight. We know we can score when we share it, get it side to side, and trust in our teammates to make the right plays. It's going to come down to all the intangible things."