The 19th-ranked Iowa Central women remained unbeaten on the year here Wednesday night, posting a 67-65 victory over North Iowa Area inside Hodges Fieldhouse.

Carley West and Nevaeh Galloway combined for all 14 points in the fourth as the Tritons held off the Trojans. 

Galloway finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals, with West adding 15, five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a pair of steals.

"I thought we did a good job of relying on our past experiences to pull this one out," Iowa Central head coach Brian Ortmeier said. "We hit a lot of the key categories and that made the difference."

Iowa Central (14-0 overall, 4-0 in ICCAC) was plus-18 on points in the paint, plus-13 in bench points and plus-10 on points off turnovers. 

For NIACC (9-4, 2-4), Audrey Martinez-Stewart scored 18 points and Alyssa Hames had 17 with 13 rebounds.

"We knew NIACC would be a tough opponent," Ortmeier said. "This conference is always a grind, so it was good to start 2022 off with a win."

Taylor McKinney had nine points off the bench, including seven during a key stretch in the third quarter. Ashley Fountain added eight points with nine rebounds, while Emma Scurek had eight points and seven boards.

The Tritons return to action Saturday at No. 2 Kirkwood.

"It's a big one and another tough test," Ortmeier said. "They return most of their players from last year and were No. 1 for much of the season."

-By Dana Becker