A late second-half surge pushed the Central College women’s basketball team to a comeback 57-50 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan University Monday night.

The Dutch struggled for most of the first half, hitting just four-of-18 shots from the field in the first quarter and trailed 24-19 at halftime. The third quarter started off even less promising as Central fell behind 35-23 midway through in the period. But the Dutch turned up the defensive pressure, to spark a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 40-38. A 3-pointer by Hannah Dau put Central back on top 43-42 with 9:34 remaining in the game. Kelsea Hurly would put the Dutch ahead for good with a bucket with 3:38 left in the contest. Hurley sparked the Central comeback with eight fourth-quarter points and finished with a game-high 17 points along with eight rebounds. Allison Van Gorp had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Annie Swaters had 10 points.

With the win, the Dutch improved to 5-11 overall, and 3-7 in American Rivers Conference play. Central, in the midst of a 10-game, 22-day flurry to close out the regular season, heads to Waverly Wednesday to meet Wartburg College, who is ranked No. 23 in the WBCA Division III poll and No.19 by D3hoops.com. The game is part of a women’s-men’s conference doubleheader tipping off at 6 p.m.