FORT DODGE — Southwestern led the 20th-ranked Iowa Central women by six points early and made a fourth-quarter run to get close before the Tritons held on for a 63-53 victory Wednesday night.
Iowa Cental ended the first half on a 27-16 run for a 32-27 halftime lead and never trailed again.
Southwestern’s deliberate offense gave Iowa Central problems in the first half.
“They tried to make us play defense for 30 seconds on every possession, which we thought they would do coming in,” Iowa Central coach Jordan O’Brien said. “Everybody knows playing slow just isn’t what we like to do.”
Iowa Central held Southwestern without a single field goal for the first 12 minutes of the second half. In the third quarter alone, the Spartans missed all 10 shot attempts from the floor.
“At one point it was 53-35. They were up 18 on us, but we got it back down in the fourth and had a couple of chances to get close,” SWCC coach Addae Houston said.
Julanie Carter’s driving basket briefly sliced the deficit to 56-49 with just over two mintues left. However, it would get no closer down the strech.
Carter anchored the Spartans (7-11, 1-5 conference) with a game-high 23 points, folllowed by LaStella Slack with 17 points.
All-American Blair Silliman delivered 22 points for Iowa Central (10-4, 5-1), including six 3-pointers. Jaci Stumpf contributed 11 points.
Southwestern has now dropped six of its last seven outings. O’Brien said the Spartans are improved from last year’s 4-26 campaign, when the Tritons rolled to victories of 82-54 and 93-68.
“They’ve gotten a lot better since last year,” O’Brien said. “This conference is so tough. You have to respect every opponent.”
“Iowa Central is pretty basic about what they do in their ofense,” Houston said. “They spread the floor and look to dribble penetrate and drive and kick. But they are really good at doing that. We stayed in help side position and did a decent job against it, but they got away from us a little in the third quarter.”
The Spartans were shorthanded Wednesday, as Cambry Schluter suffered a sprained ankle in practice Tuesday and Demir Alford suffered an Achilles strain.
“We’re not sure about Saturday, especially Cambry since she just sprained the ankle,” Houston said. “Demir is day-to-day.”
The Spartans play at Southeastern in Keokuk at 1 p.m. Saturday.
IOWA CENTRAL (63) — Jaci Stumpf 4 3-4 11, Blair Silliman 7 2-4 22, Jazzmine Royster 3 0-0 7, Tiana Mericle 3 3-4 9, Ashley Altman 2 0-0 4, Tangy Wiseman 0 1-2 1, Megan Kortan 1 4-4 7, Michaela Graffunder 1 0-0 2. Totals — 21 13-18 63. FG shooting — 21-54 (38.8 percent). 3-point goals — 8-20 (Silliman 6, Royster 1, Kortan 1). Rebounds — 26 Turnovers — 11. Team fouls — 14. Fouled out — None.
SOUTHWESTERN (53) — Julanie Carter 9 2-2 23, Khadijah Wilson 1 2-2 4, Olivia Reifert 0 1-2 1, LaStella Slack 7 3-5 17, Sabrina Fountain 3 2-2 8. Totals — 20 10-13 53. FG shooting — 20-57 (35 percent). 3-point goals — 3-7 (J. Carter 3). Rebounds — 36 (Reifert 14, Slack 8, Fountain 7, J. Carter 5). Assists — 10 (Wilson 3, M. Carter 3). Steals — 6 (Fountain 3). Blocked shots — 1 (Wilson 1). Turnovers — 20. Team fouls — 18. Fouled out — None.
ICCC — 19 32 47 63
SWCC — 17 27 35 53