STORM LAKE, Iowa (Feb. 24, 2026) - The Buena Vista women's basketball team used a big 31-point fourth quarter and outscored No. 6 seed Central College by 11 en route to a 78-68 victory over the Dutch to begin the American Rivers Conference Tournament on Tuesday night inside of Siebens Fieldhouse.

Sophomore Bradi Krager registered her eighth double-double of the season to help lead the way for the Beavers. She scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Fellow sophomore Tyme Boettcher nailed a pair of long range buckets and followed with 18 points and five boards, freshman Adeeya Yanga scored 13 points and had four blocks, and junior Mary Walker added 12 points. Senior Danika Demers dished out a game-high seven assists and is now only eight shy of becoming just the third player in program history to reach 400 in a career.

The game was tight the entire way with neither side able to build more than a six-point cushion over the first three quarters. BVU led 18-14 after the first quarter while the Dutch came back and tied it at 29-29 going into the half. Both teams began heating up from the field in the second half but each side seemed to have an answer for the other. Central took a 48-47 lead into the fourth quarter before the Beavers erupted by shooting over 55 percent from the field in the quarter and made 9-of-10 at the free-throw line.

Boettcher buried a free-throw line jumper on BVU's first possession of the quarter that put the team back in front and it never trailed from there. Central did tie the game at both 51-51 and 53-53 and the Dutch were still within striking distance at 60-58. Yanga made back-to-back layups midway through that sparked a big 11-0 run that put the Beavers in front 71-58 with just under two minutes remaining.

Central scored five straight and pulled back within eight with 45 seconds still on the clock, but the Beavers made their free-throws down the stretch and put the game away to give them their first conference tournament victory since the 2016-17 campaign.

Maddie Backer and Jasmyn Williams each scored 12 points for Central (12-14) while CeCe Moore added seven points and 11 rebounds.

Buena Vista improves to 17-9 on the year and advances to play at No. 2 seed Coe College on Thursday, Feb. 26. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.