Four Dutch players reached double digits as the Central College women's basketball team scored a convincing 72-54 victory over Cornell College Saturday night.

After a quick 3-1 start to the season, Saturday's win marked the first Iowa Conference victory for the Dutch and snapped a 10-game losing streak.

"We played really well as a team today," said coach Jerry Nikkel. "We had some great passing in our offense and we finished our shots. We've had trouble with that so far this season and tonight we were able to execute."

Central fell into an early 8-2 deficit in the opening minutes, but used a trio of 3-pointers to spark a 13-3 run and take a 15-11 lead with 10:12 left in first half. The Dutch extended their advantage to 30-20 at halftime.

"I thought that the 10-point lead at the half was really good for us, especially coming off the Simpson game," said Nikkel. "At halftime we talked about keeping the intensity on defense. We knew they were going to make runs on us."

The Dutch extended their lead to 37-22 two minutes into the second half, but a Cornell run brought the Central lead to single digits at the 13:57 mark in the second half at 40-34. Over the next six minutes the Dutch responded with a 17-3 run that doubled their halftime lead and brought the score to 57-37 with 7:53 left to play.

Central turned in their best defensive performance of the year, limiting the Rams to a season-low 54 points. Cornell shot a chilly 26.9 percent from the floor, including 21.2 percent from behind the arc on their 33 long-range attempts.

"We gave them a lot of different looks on defense," said Nikkel. "Occasionally you lose someone when you do a lot of switching but we were on the same page today."

Meanwhile, the Dutch hit 49 percent of their shots including a searing 54.2 percent in the second half and 40 percent on 15 shots from behind the arc.

Forward AJ Baker led all scorers with 15 points and added seven rebounds. Guard Alyssa Schwartz and center chipped in 12 points apiece while guard Annie Sarcone added 10. Forward Nicole Strasko led the Dutch with five assists and also added seven rebounds.

"We ran a two-platoon deal in the second half and that worked well," said Nikkel. "It kept us fresh on the floor and we were able to get a lot of people playing time."

Central granted Cornell 17 offensive rebounds but still held a 45-35 advantage on the glass. The Dutch also prevailed despite committing 18 turnovers to Cornell's nine.

Central improved to 4-11 overall and 1-5 in league play while the Rams dropped to 7-7 overall and 2-5 in the conference.

"I told them in practice that we have four games coming up in the next eight days and we can win all four," said Nikkel. "Today was just the first step of that."

Central heads to Dubuque Monday for a league women's-men's doubleheader at the University of Dubuque, starting at 6 p.m. The Spartans are 1-5 in conference play and 4-11 overall. Central has lost six straight to Dubuque with its last victory coming Feb. 10, 2007.