Pella, Iowa -- 2/15/25-Central College Women's Basketball vs Dubuque. Photo by Dan L. Vander Beek

The Central College women’s basketball team hosted the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in their home opener Wednesday night, but fell 61-40 to suffer their first loss of the young season.

It didn’t take long for the Falcons to take control of the game, as they led 23-6 after the first quarter and 36-14 at halftime. The Falcons came out of the gate with a full-court press that gave the Dutch problems, affecting their ability to get into their sets and find a rhythm offensively. However, the Dutch made the necessary adjustments at halftime and showed promising improvements in the second half.

The Dutch matched their first half total in the third quarter alone, scoring 14 points backed by three three-pointers from guard Emily Naughton. That momentum carried over to the fourth quarter, where they outscored the Falcons 12-7. Their second half effort was not enough however, as they fell to 3-1 overall.

After four games in a six-day span, Central will get a few days off before looking to get back in the win column with another home game on Saturday against North Central University (Minn.) at 3 pm.