Wrapping up the first round of American Rivers Conference play Wednesday, the Central College women’s basketball team defeated Luther 72-63, while the men’s team held off the Norse for a 76-73 victory.

In the women’s game, Hannah Dau reigned in a career-high 22 points on 8-12 shooting from the field and 3-3 from three-point range, while also grabbing five rebounds. Abby Johnson added 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting while also nabbing four rebounds. CeCe Moore had eight points and four rebounds, while Gabby Moore contributed four points, seven rebounds, five steals, and two assists. The Dutch got 13 bench points with Samantha Scott scoring six points and Jasmyn Williams scoring three points and leading the team with four assists. The Dutch held Luther to 35.5% shooting from the field and 24.1% from three, forced 19 turnovers, and had 10 steals and three blocked shots. Offensively, Central shot 44.3% from the field and 50% from three, collected 14 assists, and scored 23 points off turnovers.

Helping the Dutch men fend off a scrappy Norse squad was Kaleb Brand, who matched a career-high 28 points on 13-18 shooting, while also pulling down nine rebounds and dishing out a team-high seven assists. Joshua Van Gorp collected his 12th double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds and Owen Schipper chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds. Central got 19 bench points in the win, led by Will Henricksen’s nine points on 3-5 three point shooting. Grant Uecker added nine points, five assists, and three steals off the bench, while Anthony Gott contributed four points and two blocks. As a team, Luther outshot the Dutch men 36.7% to 30% from three-point range, but Central held a 45.3% to 42.9% advantage from the field to secure the win.

The Central basketball teams begin the second round of conference play on Saturday, traveling to Wartburg College for a doubleheader that can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS at 1:45 pm.