Central College’s Kelsea Hurley (senior, Scottsdale, Ariz., Desert Mountain HS) shattered her own school women’s basketball consecutive free throws mark but first-place Wartburg College outscored the Dutch 80-37 Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Dutch men’s basketball team saw its five-game winning streak snapped Wednesday as Wartburg used a big first half to prevail over the Dutch 80-69.

Hurley, Central’s leading scorer on the season with 13.3 points per game, hit all four of her free-throw tries Wednesday, giving her 27 in a row. She hasn’t missed since Nov. 23 against Knox College (Ill.). She previously shared the school mark of 23 set by all-time leading scorer Emilie Hanson March 2-Nov. 29, 1994. Hurley, who entered the game ranked third in Division III in free throw percentage, has now knocked down 47 of 50 attempts on the year (94.0%). She previously hit 23 straight from Feb. 16-Nov. 16, 2022.

Wartburg (10-4 overall, 4-0 American Rivers) raced out to a 24-14 lead by the end of the first quarter, then used stingy defense to stretch the advantage to 40-19 at intermission. The Knights then exploding for 30 points in the third period to coast to the win.

Central (3-10 overall, 0-4 conference) got 13 points from center Allison Van Gorp (sophomore, Pella, Pella Christian HS). Hurley had six rebounds and three assists. The Dutch were outshot 47.1% to 21.0% and outrebounded 46-43.

Center Joshua Van Gorp (junior, Pella, Pella Christian HS) had 22 points and nine rebounds, but the Dutch (8-4 overall, 3-1 American Rivers) suffered their first conference loss of the season.

Wartburg (5-8 overall, 2-2 conference) took a 44-36 halftime lead on the defensive-minded Dutch and shot 50.8% for the game, including 40.9% from 3-point range. Wartburg’s 44 first-half points were the most surrendered by Central this year.

Central forward Grant Johnson (senior, Waukee, Van Meter HS) had a game-high 11 rebounds and a career-best nine assists along with eight points. Johnson also blocked four shots, giving him 36 on the year, which ranks 13th in the NCAA Division III and is already near the top-10 season totals in school history. Meanwhile, Van Gorp hit 9 of 11 shots from the field and ranks fourth in Division III in field goal percentage at 69.9%.

Central shot a respectable 47.4% from the field and outrebounded Wartburg 41-29 but was outscored in both halves.

Both the Central basketball teams return home on Saturday for a conference doubleheader against Loras College beginning at 2 p.m. Coverage of the doubleheader can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS with a video stream available at athletics.central.edu.