Pella, Iowa -- 2/19/25-_Central College Women's Basketball vs Nebraska Wesleyan. Photo by Dan L. Vander Beek

The Central women’s basketball team controlled the game from start to finish in a 79-40 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan on Wednesday, while the Prairie Wolves pulled away from the men’s team in the second half for a 63-54 victory.

The Dutch women got off to a fast start, leading 18-5 at the end of the first quarter and 33-13 at halftime. Abby Johnson followed up her career-high 30 points last game with 29 points Wednesday, while shooting 9-of-13 from three-point range. CeCe Moore contributed six points, three steals and six rebounds, and Gabby Moore also scored six points while dishing out four assists. Central scored 34 points off the bench with Kaitlyn Mumm leading the way with eight points. Samantha Scott added six points off the bench, while Allie Rateike and Jadyn Filling both contributed five points. For the game, Central shot 50.9% from the field and 45.5% from three while holding the Prairie Wolves to 29.6% from the field and 16.7% from three. The Dutch also caused 21 turnovers including 12 steals and scored 30 points off of those turnovers. With the win today Central clinched a spot in the American Rivers Conference Tournament, their first time qualifying since the 2019-20 season and only the second time since the 2002-03 season. 

The Dutch men’s team shot a sizzling 42.3% from the field in the first half of their game, and held the Prairie Wolves to just 36.4% from the floor, but a three-pointer at the buzzer gave Nebraska Wesleyan a 31-28 lead going into halftime. In the second half, Nebraska Wesleyan held Central to just 26 points on 37.9% shooting, while scoring 32 points themselves. Karson Wehde came off the bench and led Central with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting. In his first start of the season, Will Henricksen scored 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while Owen Schipper also scored 12 points by making four three-pointers. Kaleb Brand led the team with four assists while adding five points. As a team, Central had six blocked shots with Taylor Birks collecting three in his first start of the season, while also adding four points and four rebounds.

The Central basketball teams will finish the regular season on Saturday, traveling to Luther College for a doubleheader that can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS at 1:45 pm.