The Iowa Central women made sure their loss to Kirkwood over the weekend was completely in the past.
Behind a big run that stretched from the first quarter to the second, the 20th-ranked Tritons were able to post a 74-70 victory over Northeast here Wednesday night inside Hodges Fieldhouse.
Over the weekend, Iowa Central (15-1 overall, 5-1 in ICCAC) suffered its first loss, falling at No. 2 Kirkwood.
"We came out strong and played smart, attacked and were strong on the defensive end," Iowa Central head coach Brian Ortmeier said. "We kind of let up there late and Northeast kept playing hard. We've just got to continue getting better and build off what we did well."
After building a 20-point lead in the second half, the Tritons were forced to seal the contest at the free throw line. Jayden Frank had a three-point play in the fourth and Iowa Central held on from there.
"Our intensity let up," Ortmeier said. "We let the press affect us and didn't keep playing with the same kind of energy we had to begin the game."
Frank and Autumn Dykstra each scored 16 points, with Carley West and Nevaeh Galloway adding 14. Ashley Fountain had nine points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Down 10-7 early, the Tritons put together a 12-0 run to gain hold of the contest. That continued through the first few minutes of the second, reaching 24-5 and giving them a 16-point cushion.
Northeast was able to cut into the deficit before the end of the half, but Iowa Central maintained a 39-27 lead. Dykstra scored 13 in the opening 20 minutes, with West adding nine and Frank seven.
The Tritons were 17-for-34 from the field in the first half and made six 3-pointers, outscoring Northeast 18-8 in the paint.
After building a 20-point lead, Iowa Central saw Northeast cut it down to eight late in the fourth. Frank converted a three-point play to make it 72-61 with just over a minute to play.
The Hawks, though, would not of away easy, making it a five-point game with 21 seconds remaining.
Ashley Hassett had a game-high 20 points with Autumn Dickmander and Destiny Epps scoring 14 each.
The Tritons return to the road on Saturday, heading to Council Bluffs to face ninth-ranked Iowa Western at 1 p.m.
-By Dana Becker