March 2, 2019

KCC women share ICCAC title

Sunday, 03 March 2019 06:08 Metro Sports Report

IOWA FALLS - The Kirkwood women's basketball team finished in a tie for the ICCAC conference title on Saturday, but the Eagles had to settle for the No. 2 seed in the regional tournament next week.

The fourth-ranked Eagles topped Ellsworth, 87-61, in the final game of the regular season.

Kirkwood and NIACC finished with identical 15-1 records in the conference and traded six-point wins, but NIACC won the tiebreaker on its overall point differential against the other teams in the league.

NIACC outscored conference opponents by 458 points and Kirkwood outscored them by 397, giving NIACC the tiebreaker by 61 points.

Kirkwood (25-6) will host No. 7 seed Southwestern (11-17) in the opening round of the regional tournament Wednesday night. The Eagles whipped Southwestern by 43 and 48 points in their two meetings.

Assuming NIACC wins its opening game in the regional, the Trojans will host the semifinals and finals next Saturday and Sunday. Kirkwood's only hope of hosting the semifinals and finals is for NIACC to lose in the opening round to Little Priest Tribal College or Ellsworth, which is highly unlikely.

Mackenzie Jenkins collected a double-double Saturday with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Amara Lipsey scored 13 points. The Eagles led by 34 points at halftime, 53-19.

Tayla Nulty popped in six 3-pointers and scored 20 points for Ellsworth, which has lost all 29 of its games this season.

KIRKWOOD (87): Bradford 4 0-0 8, Jenkins 10 2-2 22, Gaston 1 0-0 3, Hurst 3 2-2 8, Mullinnix 2 0-0 6, Lipsey 3 4-4 13, Kennedy 2 0-0 6, Myers 1 0-0 3, Tomaszewski 3 1-2 7, Robinson 1 3-6 5, Mensen 2 0-0 6. Totals 32 12-16 87.

ELLSWORTH (61): Miller 2 4-8 9, Nulty 7 0-0 20, Lincoln 5 2-2 13, Nystrom 0 0-0 0, Stroud 2 2-2 8, Marshall 0 0-0 0, Gerdes 3 3-4 11, Woodruff 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 11-16 61.

Halftime - Kirkwood 53, Ellsworth 19. 3-point goals - Kirkwood 11 (Lipsey 3, Mullinnix 2, Kennedy 2, Mensen 2, Gaston 1, Myers 1), Ellsworth 12 (Nulty 6, Stroud 2, Gerdes 2, Miller 1, Lincoln 1).