By: Dana Becker 

Messenger Sports Staff 

Nobody in the country has done a better job of converting at the free throw line than the Iowa Central women this season.

The Tritons knocked down 20 of 22 shots from the charity stripe here on Saturday on their way to a 78-69 victory over Southwestern inside Hodges Fieldhouse.

On the year, Iowa Central (11-3 overall, 3-3 in ICCAC) is converting at over 78 percent from the line, a number that leads all of Div. II teams and places them third among the three NJCAA divisions.

"We shot 90 percent from the line (Saturday)," ICCC head coach Sabah Dickerson said. "Our team shoots them well and we need to continue to use that to our advantage."

Laney Pilcher was a perfect 9-for-9 in the win, scoring 15 points with seven assists, seven steals and five rebounds. Kaitlyn Tendal added 17 points, six rebounds and three steals, Alicia Hatledstad had 15 points and Emily Theiss chipped in 11 with seven boards.

Former Fort Dodge Senior High standout Lainey Maehl had eight points with three rebounds as the Tritons erased an early deficit.

"I am very proud of our team effort in the second half," Dickerson said. "I felt like we started flat and didn't play consistently in the first half. Our team settled in and started to fight hard for the little details."

For the Spartans, Cassidy Nelson had 21 and Brooklyn Hadl 19.

Southwestern (6-11, 4-3) used just six players as the Tritons went nine-deep with the bench scoring 12 points and recording eight rebounds. Olivia Miller had eight points to lead the group.

"Olivia came in and had a huge performance for us off the bench," Dickerson said.

Since dropping two straight and three of four to close out December, Iowa Central has picked up back-to-back wins to begin the new year. They will look to make it three in a row on Wednesday when they travel to Northeast.