The Central College women’s basketball team avenged an early season loss to Nebraska Wesleyan University with authority Wednesday in a 66-38 thumping, while the Dutch men’s squad second half comeback bid fell short in 76-67 loss to the Prairie Wolves.

The Central women stumbled in overtime 66-65 at Nebraska Wesleyan on November 30th and the teams were knotted 12-12 after one quarter Wednesday. But the Dutch (6-14 overall, 3-8 American Rivers) blew past the Prairie Wolves 43-12 over the next two periods. Guard Abby Johnson (sophomore, Ankeny) had a near double-double with a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds while guard Kelsea Hurley (senior, Scottsdale, Ariz., Desert Mountain HS) had 13 points and eight boards. She’s climbed into 11th on Central’s all-time scoring list with 1,074 points. Hurley hit three 3-pointers and has 156 for her career, second on the Central list.

A 28-point first-half deficit eventually proved to be insurmountable as the Central men dropped into a tie for first place in the American Rivers Conference. Nebraska Wesleyan bolted out to an 18-2 lead in the first 6:34 and a 44-21 halftime advantage, fueled by sizzling outside shooting. The Prairie Wolves drained 51.5% of their shots from the field in the half, including 44.4% from 3-point range. It was a different Central squad in the second half as P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium came alive. After the lead was sliced to 70-65 with 1:19 left, forward Kole Tupa (junior, Center Point, Center Point-Urbana HS) stole an offensive rebound but couldn’t connect on his reverse lay-up. Guard Kaleb Brand (junior, Mount Vernon) tied his career-high point mark, which he set Saturday against Coe with a game-leading 18, while center Joshua Van Gorp (junior, Pella, Pella Christian HS) had 14 points and eight rebounds. 

Another tough test looms on Saturday for the Central basketball teams in Dubuque for a women’s-men’s conference doubleheader with Loras College at 2 p.m. Saturday’s games will be broadcast on 92.1 KRLS, beginning with pregame coverage at 1:45 p.m.