The Central College women’s basketball team finally got its first Iowa Conference win of the season Wednesday night – while the men continued their rebound in the right direction – as the Dutch claimed a 54-51 win over Loras College in the opener, then saw the Central men earn the victory on a final shot for a 90-87 win in the late game.

The Central women used an 11-0 run midway through the second half to take a five-point lead and held on with clutch free throws to notch their first league victory on their lucky 13th try. Alyssa Schwartz drained four 3-pointers and led all players with 16 points, while Nicole Strasko provided a first-half spark off the bench and finished with 12 points. The Central women are now 6-16 overall and 1-12 in the Iowa Conference.

The men’s game was also competitive all the way to the very end, as Demarco Turner hit a step-back 3-pointer with one second left to give the Dutch the win. It didn’t come easy, though, as Loras led 25-12 in the first half before Central came storming back to pull to within two points by halftime. The Dutch put together a strong run through the middle of the second half to take the lead and never trailed again, though the Duhawks tied the game twice in the final minute. Turner was 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and finished with 17 points, while Kevin Kaerwer was close behind with 16 points. The Central men have now enjoyed back-to-back Iowa Conference wins and are 7-6 in league play and 15-7 overall.

Both Central basketball teams have another conference road game ahead of them, as they’ll travel to Decorah to face Luther on Saturday.