Illinois Central drills No. 2 Eagles

EAST PEORIA, Ill. - The Kirkwood women's basketball team has gotten off to a rough start this season.

The Eagles were drilled by seventh-ranked Illinois Central, 94-49, in the second round of the Illinois Central Classic Saturday afternoon.

Kirkwood were ranked No. 2 in the country in the NJCAA Division II preseason poll after finishing second in the national tournament last year, but the Eagles have a 1-3 record with three lopsided losses.

Illinois Central outscored the Eagles, 52-18, in the second half after leading 42-31 at intermission.

Jheda Kennedy led Kirkwood with nine points. The Eagles shot 16 for 53 from the floor for 30.2 percent.

Marquitta Easley scored 23 points for Illinois Central and Summer Stoewer added 20. The winners made 55.2 percent of their shots and had a 42-32 edge in rebounds.

KIRKWOOD (49): Jenkins 3 1-2 8, Gaston 1 0-0 3, Hurst 2 2-2 6, Mullinnix 1 0-0 3, Tull 2 3-4 7, Bradford 3 2-2 8, Kennedy 3 0-0 9, Myers 0 3-4 3, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Tomaszewski 0 0-0 0, Robinson 1 0-0 2, Mensen 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 11-14 49.

ILLINOIS CENTRAL (94): Stanley 2 1-4 5, Stoewer 8 1-2 20, Branford 1 4-4 6, Coates 7 2-4 17, Easley 10 3-4 23, Becker 0 0-2 0, Hare 0 1-2 1, Faulkner 1 0-0 3, Brown 0 0-0 0, Overman 1 0-0 2, Ward 3 0-0 6, Washington 1 0-0 3, Henderson 3 0-0 8.

Halftime - Illinois Central 42, Kirkwood 31. 3-point goals - Kirkwood 6 (Kennedy 3, Jenkins 1, Gaston 1, Mullinnix 1), Illinois Central 8 (Stoewer 3, Henderson 2, Coates 1, Faulkner 1, Washington 1).