The Iowa Central women opened ICCAC action with a hard-fought 70-58 victory over Des Moines Area here Wednesday night inside Hodges Fieldhouse.

After seeing a 15-point second half lead get cut down to five, the 20th-ranked Tritons were able to rely on experience to claim the victory.

Carley West had 19 points with 10 rebounds, six steals, four assists and two blocked shots, Nevaeh Galloway added 11 points, 10 blocked shots and six rebounds, and Autumn Dykstra scored 14. 

Leading 60-51 late, Taylor McKinney and Dykstra had big baskets to push the Iowa Central (8-0 overall, 1-0 in league) lead back up to 14.

"I thought those were definitely key plays by experienced players," Iowa Central head coach Brian Ortmeier said. "Coming in we wanted to win the rebounding battle and the turnover edge. We had fewer turnovers and lost the rebounding battle by just four."

Ashley Fountain added eight points and seven rebounds with three steals, while Jayden Frank grabbed 11 rebounds. The Bears had 61 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, with the Tritons finishing with 57 and 16 on the offensive end.

"They are always a great rebounding team so I wanted to see us go toe-to-toe with them on the glass," Ortmeier said. "I thought we did a good job of that, especially in the second half."

For DMACC (6-2, 0-1), Emily Caspers and Magan Christopherson each scored 13. Caspers was one of three Bear players in double figures in rebounding with 11. 

"It's always important to protect your home court in the conference," Ortmeier said. "It is going to be a battle at the top of the league so it's great starting out 1-0."

McKinney had eight points off the bench with Emma Scurek adding six and 11 rebounds. 

The win was the 100th in the coaching career of Ortmeier.

Iowa Central takes on the William Penn JV on Sunday before heading to Estherville to meet Iowa Lakes next Wednesday.

-By Dana Becker