The Central College women’s basketball team held their own with undefeated Northwestern College for nearly an entire half, but the Red Raiders soon overpowered the Dutch on the way to a 90-52 victory yesterday in the Pizza Ranch Classic in Orange City.  

In the first half, Central trailed 33-23 with over five minutes left before halftime, when the Dutch rattled off ten unanswered points to tie the game at 33-33.  Unfortunately, Northwestern went on a 13-0 run of its own to close out the half, and the Dutch could not battle back for the rest of the game against the top-ranked team in NAIA Division II.  Central was led by 11 points from AJ Baker and a game-high 10 rebounds from Nicole Strasko.  

Central is 3-2 overall and wraps up play in the classic this afternoon at 2 p.m., taking on another NAIA contender, Dordt College. The Defenders, 6-1, suffered their first loss Friday to William Penn, 70-60.