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Despite being undersized, shorthanded and committing 31 turnovers, the Central College women’s basketball team threw a scare into 23rd ranked Simpson in their Iowa Conference opener before suffering an 88-81 defeat last night. The Dutch, already without injured center Andrea Clark saw their leading scorer Sarah Paulson go down with an injury late in the first half and she was unable to return But Central kept battling and only trailed 34-32 at halftime, then scored the first five points of the second half to gain a 37-34 lead. After Simpson regained a four point lead with 10:22 remaining, Central went on a 10-0 run and took a surprising 60-54 advantage with 9:06 remaining. But Simpson answered with an 8-0 spurt to regain the lead. Central tied the game again at 76 with 2:29 remaining but Simpson scored the next five points to take the lead for good. Haley Brillhart (sophomore, Pella) stepped up for the Dutch with 16 points and nine rebounds in just 16 minutes of action off the bench. Kelsey Schuring (sophomore, Pella) and AJ Baker each had 10 points. Coach Jerry Nikkel said he was very pleased with their hustle and aggressive play, especially defensively and said if they always bring that effort they will win games. Central will try and end a six game losing streak to Wartburg when they travel to Waverly Saturday for another league women’s-men’s doubleheader at 2 p.m. game. The men’s contest starts at 4 p.m

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