Metro Sports Report

Kirkwood women No.1 in nation

The Kirkwood women's basketball team is now all alone at the top of the national rankings, but the Eagles will face a stiff challenge Saturday.

The Eagles (10-1) climbed a notch from No.2 to No.1 in the NJCAA Division II rankings Wednesday. At the same time, NIACC (10-0) climbed from No.3 to No.2 in the rankings heading into their big showdown against each other Saturday afternoon in Mason City.

Kirkwood was not ranked when the season began, but the Eagles have already defeated three top-10 teams this season on their climb to the top.

Kennedy girls rout Linn-Mar

Kennedy Coach Tony Vis was hard-pressed to find fault with anything his girls did Tuesday night after they demolished Linn-Mar 74-41 on their home court.

“Well,” he said after a pause, “we fouled a lot.”

Even that mild criticism was tempered, however.

“When you play as aggressive as we did tonight, I can live with that.”

In a match-up of previously unbeaten teams, this one was really no contest.

No.16 KCC men give themselves a hand

Kirkwood Coach Bryan Petersen and his assistants huddled in a hallway at Johnson Hall Tuesday night for about five minutes to discuss their team's performance against Iowa Central before entering the locker room.

As soon as they opened the locker room door, all of the Eagles broke into applause to celebrate a good victory.

The 16th-ranked Eagles passed the ball extremely well Tuesday and handled Iowa Central, 73-59, in the ICCAC opener.

Kirkwood collected 23 assists on 28 field goals, an unusually high percentage that led to 53.8 percent shooting from the floor.

Woolfolk sparks No.2 Eagles, 85-78

Danielle Woolfolk is usually the shortest player on the basketball floor at 5-foot-3, but she may have the biggest heart and the greatest love of the game.

Woolfolk shook off a back injury and sparked No.2 Kirkwood past No.17 Iowa Central Tuesday night, 85-78, with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals at Johnson Hall.

Woolfolk collided with a teammate near the end of the first half and suffered a nasty fall, sending her to the training room for repairs and a heating pad on her sore back. She returned for the second half and did not miss a beat.