Central College yielded the last nine points of the first half and never recovered in a 70-64 Iowa Conference women's basketball loss to Luther College Saturday.

The Dutch (4-18 overall, 1-12 conference) were quick out of the blocks, taking a 7-2 lead and going up 28-18 with 2:52 left in the half. But Luther (6-16 overall, 2-11 conference) finished the half with a 9-0 run.

"We never got anything going during that time," coach Jerry Nikkel said. "We had three shots we missed in that stretch that weren't very good shots. We never really got set. That hurt."

The Norse moved in front 36-35 with 16:22 remaining in the second half and never trailed again. Luther forward Sam Jewell led all scorers with 24 points.

 "In the second half we had a hard time stopping her," Nikkel said. "She got around us on the baseline. She's no taller than we are but she played a little smarter than we did."

Guard Sarah Paulson  had 15 points and five rebounds for the Dutch while forward Haley Brillhart nearly posted a double-double with 13 points and nine boards. Guard Jordan Waddell returned to the starting lineup and had 13 points.

Central was outrebounded 41-34 and outshot 43.1 percent to 33.3.

Central wraps up its home-season schedule Wednesday with a women's-men's league doubleheader against Simpson College. The women's game starts at 6 p.m. at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. Simpson, which rolled past the Dutch 106-58 in Indianola Jan. 12, is 17-4 overall and 11-1 in conference play after suffering its first league loss at home Saturday to Coe, 81-79.

A video webstream and live stats for both Central games Saturday will be available through the Dutch athletics website at www.central.edu/athletics.