STORM LAKE, Iowa (Feb. 5, 2025) - The Buena Vista women's basketball team led 33-29 at halftime and then used a 16-0 run early in the second half that proved to be the difference during the Beavers 74-62 home victory on Wednesday night over Central College.

The Dutch scored the first bucket to begin the third quarter before BVU rolled off 16 straight. During that stretch, freshmen Bradi Krager and Tyme Boettcher each buried long range buckets while junior Madalyann Hilgendorf chipped in with four points. The Beavers were 9-of-16 shooting in the quarter and held the Dutch to only 5-of-16 and led 55-43 heading to the fourth.

Hilgendorf drilled her second three-pointer of the night to make it 67-57 with 3:30 remaining but the Beavers were held scoreless for the next two minutes as Central managed to chip away at the lead and get it down to five at 67-62 with 1:25 to play. Out of timeout, junior Danika Demers made a layup that ignited a 7-0 run to close out the game.

BVU jumped out to an 11-3 cushion to begin the game before Central responded with a 10-2 surge to make it 13-13 at the end of the opening quarter. The game was then tied six more times in the second before Demers stepped to the line to make a pair of free-throws as BVU broke a 27-27 deadlock by closing the half by scoring six of the final eight points over the final two minutes.

Krager finished her second career double-double by scoring 18 points and hauling in a career-best 12 rebounds. Hilgendorf followed with a season-high 16 points while Demers added 13. The trio was 11-of-11 at the charity stripe as BVU was 14-of-15 overall for the game. Boettcher chipped in with seven points and eight boards while senior McKenna Cone and junior Jenna Hallock also finished with seven points apiece.

Buena Vista was 42.9 percent shooting and made 37.5 percent from downtown (6-of-16) to go along with the 93.3 percent effort at the line. Despite a strong 8-of-12 finish in the fourth quarter, the Dutch were held to only 37.9 percent shooting for the game and made 8-of-26 from long range. BVU held a commanding 43-27 edge on the glass.

Abby Johnson was the only player to reach double figures for the Dutch (11-10, 4-8 A-R-C), scoring 11. CeCe Moore added nine points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Buena Vista snaps a six-game losing streak against the Dutch and improves to 7-13 on the year (2-9 A-R-C). The team travels to the University of Dubuque on Saturday, Feb. 15, for a 2 p.m. tip-off with the Spartans.