Mistakes were again the difference for a young Central College women's basketball team, which struggled through an 85-61 loss at Buena Vista University Wednesday.
           
The Dutch (7-15 overall, 3-10 American Rivers) were knocking down shots for most of three quarters but couldn't overcome 26 turnovers. Entering the fourth period, Central was hitting 50 percent of its shot attempts (19-38) but couldn't get enough of them, still trailing 64-48. The Dutch slid to a 20-percent effort in the fourth quarter and couldn't mount any kind of comeback threat, settling at 41.5 percent for the night. Central shot 31.8 percent from 3-point range (7-22) and knocked down 10 of 17 free throws.
           
"Turnovers continue to be an issue for us," coach Joe Steinkamp said. "We'd have good stretches where we'd share the ball and pass it well, then we'd have a couple of possessions where we didn't get a shot off."
           
But Steinkamp was especially disappointed in the Dutch defense.
           
"That's probably the first time all year that we didn't pay attention to detail on the defensive end," he said. "We were undisciplined and we reached in and fouled too much. Buena Vista shot the ball well but too many of those shots were open shots."
           
Turnovers also fed into the defensive woes.
           
"But one reason we couldn't get our defense set up was because of all the turnovers," Steinkamp said. "We were constantly in scramble mode."
           
Central, which held the Beavers to 45 points in a 47-45 victory at Pella Jan. 9, yielded 42 in the first half alone Wednesday.
           
Buena Vista shot 49.2 percent overall and 20-24 from the free throw line in one of its best performances for the year, notching its first league win in improving to 6-17 overall and 1-13 in the conference. The Beavers came up with 15 steals and held a 36-33 rebounding edge.
           
Guard Kristin Hubert (senior, Hornick, Woodbury Central HS) had nine points for Central while guard Cynthia Rangel (sophomore, San Antonio, Texas, William J. Brennan HS) had eight. Forward Kendall Brown (junior, Moravia) rejected five more shots, raising her school-record and league-leading total to 72. She ranked seventh in the NCAA Division III entering the night.
           
Saturday the Dutch are home to take on Luther College in a women's-men's conference doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. The Norse are 9-10 overall and 8-4 in the league after a 64-39 loss to rival Wartburg College at Decorah Wednesday. Luther outscored Central 66-40 at Decorah Jan. 12.
           
Saturday's games will be broadcast on KRLS-FM (92.1) with Cory Houser and can also be accessed via www.kniakrls.com. Live stats and a video webcast of Wednesday's games will be available through athletics.central.edu.