A pair of second half efforts from Buena Vista’s women’s and men’s basketball teams kept Central out of the win column in an Iowa Conference hoops doubleheader heard live on 92.1 KRLS on Saturday.

The Dutch women, who haven’t won in Storm Lake since January of 2009, held a five-point advantage on the Beavers entering the fourth quarter, but were outscored 33 – 13 in the final period to drop 91 – 76. The absence of Jackie Kriegel seemed to play an important factor, as the Dutch were out-rebounded 43 – 32 overall and an overwhelming 17 – 3 on the offensive glass. Even without Kriegel, Coach Joe Steinkamp says his team needed to finish stronger.

“Defensively on the boards we’re missing her a little bit, but it’s still not really an excuse for us,” Steinkamp said. “You’re on the road and you have a lead in the fourth quarter, you’ve got to be able to close those things out. We’re still not as good as we need to be or want to be, but we’re just going to keep fighting and keep getting better. We have a bye on Wednesday so it’ll be nice to have a full week of practice. Hopefully, get everybody healthy, get everybody back on the same page.”

Jessica Helton led Central in scoring with 15 points, Kendall Brown had a dozen, and three others scored 11, as Central’s women fall to 7 – 7 overall and 2 – 3 in league play.

The Dutch men stymied the Beaver offense in the first half, but an onslaught of easy second-half buckets led to a 93 – 80 win for Buena Vista. Central forced 11 B-V turnovers in the opening frame, but were ice cold from beyond the arc, going just 3-for-17 from three-point range. The Beavers shot an eye-popping 22-for-27 from the field, or nearly 82%, in the final 20 minutes, and finished with six players in double figures. Kyle Smith put in 29 points to lead all scorers, but his team falls to 5 – 9 overall with a 2 – 3 mark in the Iowa Conference.

Central gets Wednesday off in the conference, and will return to action this Saturday at home versus Coe College.

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