The third-ranked Kirkwood women pulled away from Southeastern in the last eight minutes of the first half with an 18-7 run, then bombed the Blackhawks with six 3-point baskets in the first five minutes of the second half to take care of business in a 72-51 win Wednesday night at Johnson Hall.

Kirkwood (18-3, 7-0) was led by Kianna Jacobs, who took the ball to the basket aggressively in the first half.

The second half featured a 3-point shooting clinic by Bianca Dufelmeier and Lexi Fitzpatrick, who each hit three in the space of five minutes.

All three finished the game in double figures.  Dufelmeier had 14 points, Fitzpatrick 13, and Jacobs finished with 11.

“I am left handed and they were overplaying me like a right-handed player so I just took what they gave me,” said Jacobs.  “In the second half the flow moved more to the outside shooters.”

“In the beginning of the second half we just got the ball in rhythm and took the shots they were giving us," explained Dufelmeier.  “This team has a lot of scoring options.”

Kirkwood Coach Kim Muhl was happy with the win but somewhat frustrated with the performance.

“We are kind of an immature team,” explained Muhl.  “If we were a little more mature we would pay better attention to detail and be a little more focused on the game plan.  We would be a little more
willing to be coached.”

Southeastern (13-7, 4-3) was led in scoring by Sheila Klieber with 13 points and Pearl Paulo with 11.

Kirkwood’s next game is a trip to winless Southwestern this Saturday.

SOUTHEASTERN (51): Klieber 4 3-4 13, Bryan 0 2-2 2, Washington 3 0-0 6, Paulo 5 1-2 11, Sharan 2 3-4 7, Merkulova 2 2-2 8, Hartweg 1 0-0 2, Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 11-14 51.

KIRKWOOD (72): Dufelmeier 5 0-0 14, Jacobs 3 5-5 11, Rohrbach 2 0-0 5, Fitzpatrick 5 0-0 13, Chuol 3 2-3 8, Hobbs 2 5-5 9, Fallon 1 1-2 4, Henderson 0 0-0 0, Tow 1 0-0 2, Gray 0 1-2 1, Faber 2 1-2 5. Totals 24 15-19 72.

Halftime - Kirkwood 36, Joliet 22. 3-point goals - Southeastern 3 (Klieber 1, Merkulova 2), Kirkwood 9 (Dufelmeier 4, Fallon 1, Rohrbach 1, Fitzpatrick 3).  Fouled out - none