It was a game of streaks, and Simpson College had the hot hand last, holding off the upset-minded Central College women’s basketball team Tuesday, 58-56, in the Iowa Conference opener for both teams.
Trailing 55-50 with 3 minutes remaining, Simpson (2-1 overall, 1-0 conference) closed with an 8-1 run. Kristi Prostine’s 3-point bucket with 44 seconds left put the Storm up for good at 57-56. Central (1-5 overall, 0-1 conference) missed two shots in the final 27 seconds.
Center Ashley Nekola had 12 points and a career-high 17 rebounds for Central. Guard Katy Paxton came off the bench and scored 14 points and guard Rachel Lenox had 11 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
Simpson forward Ashley Hansen had 11 points and center Sarah Pearson had 10.
Central raced to a surprising 10-3 lead in the first 4 minutes of the game, and was still up 15-10 with 12:15 remaining in the half before going scoreless for nearly 9 minutes as Simpson moved ahead 19-15. The Storm appeared to be in control at the half, 26-18, and stretched the advantage to 34-22 with 17:02 left in the game.
But then the Dutch caught fire, reeling off 18 unanswered points in just 4 minutes. Paxton had 11 of her 14 points in that span and it was 40-34 with 12:40 left, and the game was tight the rest of the way. There were seven lead changes in the contest.
Simpson College vs Central College 11/30/04 6 p.m. at Kuyper Gymnasium Pella, Iowa At Kuyper Gymnasium Pella, Iowa SIMPSON COLLEGE 58, CENTRAL COLLEGE 56 SIMPSON COLLEGE (2-1, 1-0) HANSEN, Ashley 5-10 1-2 11; PEARSON, Sarah 5-6 0-0 10; PROSTINE, Kristi 2-6 2-2 8; BOGAARDS, Ashley 2-13 4-6 8; KAY, Heather 2-7 3-6 7; DENOON, Kara 3-5 1-2 7; VAN OOSBREE, Tessa 1-4 1-2 4; SCHULTZ, Jessica 1-4 1-2 3; WHITON, Katelyn 0-1 0-0 0; WOODARD, Kenie 0-0 0-0 0; SMITH, Tiffany 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 13-22 58. CENTRAL COLLEGE (1-5, 0-1) PAXTON, Katy 5-9 3-5 14; NEKOLA, Ashley 5-16 2-2 12; LENOX, Rachel 4-15 0-0 11; MARTIN, Morgan 3-9 1-2 8; HEGNER, Cara 1-4 2-5 4; SCHMIDT, Aimee 1-3 2-3 4; MENDENHALL 0-1 3-4 3; WEILER, Maria 0-0 0-0 0; HENSCHEN, Leah 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-57 13-21 56. Simpson College............... 26 32 - 58 Central College............... 18 38 - 56 3-point goals-Simpson College 3-9 (PROSTINE, Kristi 2-5; VAN OOSBREE, Tessa 1-1; KAY, Heather 0-2; SCHULTZ, Jessica 0-1), Central College 5-12 (LENOX, Rachel 3-6; MARTIN, Morgan 1-1; PAXTON, Katy 1-4; NEKOLA, Ashley 0-1). Fouled out--Simpson College-None, Central College-None. Rebounds-Simpson College 42 (BOGAARDS, Ashley 10), Central College 40 (NEKOLA, Ashley 17). Assists-Simpson College 17 (PROSTINE, Kristi 5), Central College 14 (LENOX, Rachel 7). Total fouls-Simpson College 16, Central College 18. A-300