The Kirkwood women's basketball team started thinking about that good home-cooking on Tuesday against Grand View JV, but shook off the holiday yips for a big 76-38 win in Johnson Hall.

"That's what started happening," freshman post Hanna Haynes said. "At halftime, we thought, we have 20 more minutes, then we can go home."

It may have started a little sooner for Kirkwood (7-1). The Eagles blitzed the JV Vikings, racing out to a 32-8 lead.

Mikayla Fallon had two 3-pointers and Kirsten Larson and Taylor Silva each added their own during that early run. Kirkwood finished 6-of-21 from 3-point range (28.6 percent).

Kirkwood Coach Kim Muhl said it was the passing game that made the difference. The Eagles had 24 assists on 28 shots. Danielle Woolfolk led the team with seven assists.

"We made a big effort to get it inside," Muhl said. "If we don't have at least 17 assists, we're not very good, usually."

Sophomore post Ariel Sneed was the only Eagle to score in double figures with 14 points, but 13 different players scored points.

After the strong 32-8 start, however, Grand View JV started to dig into the lead in the second part of the first half.

"Anytime you put JV behind the name, kids just mentally ..." Muhl said, trailing off.

The Vikings cut the margin to 11 points, 39-28, before shots by Haynes and Polite boosted the halftime lead to 43-28.

"We stopped guarding and were just trying to score," Haynes said of the 20-7 run the Vikings JV put on them.

"They probably started thinking about (Thanksgiving break) yesterday," Muhl said. "They are a young group and have been going since Sept. 3. It'll be a good break to get revitalized."

The Eagles looked like a re-focused team in the second half, outscoring the Vikings JV 33-10.

The defense started feeding the offense, with Polite getting a big 3-point play off a steal as part of a 14-0 run by Kirkwood.

"When we press, at times they've got to understand, its okay to not get a steal," Muhl said. "The press works in different ways. Wear them out."

Kirkwood closed the game on a 24-6 run. The Vikings JV only made two baskets in the final 12 minutes.

"Our defense gets us pumped up and gets us going," Haynes said. "It felt like high school again, the way we were connecting."

The Eagles will return to campus on Sunday. Their next game is against Northwestern JV at the Iowa Western Classic in Council Bluffs on Dec. 6.

"We need to find out what we're made of on the road," Muhl said.

GRAND VIEW (38): Megan Wanatee 0-0 0-0 0, Megan Hummel 1-6 0-0 2, Erica Davidson 1-10 1-2 3, Steph Wilkinson 1-10 0-2 2, Hannah Hansen 1-3 0-0 3, Kelly Carden 0-3 2-2 2, Brandi Rose 2-5 2-2 7, Kylar McCann 0-2 2-2 2, Shelby Berg 2-4 1-3 5, Kelsey Doreo 0-0 0-0 0, Maddie Westergard 6-10 0-0 12, Mattea Detrick 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 14-58 8-13 38.

KIRKWOOD (76): Ariel Sneed 5-9 4-4 14, Danielle Woolfolk 3-8 0-0 7, Katelyn Tuttle 0-6 2-2 2, Mikayla Fallon 3-4 0-0 9, Cassidy Clark 1-5 2-2 4, Cuyla Hall 0-4 0-0 0, Taylor Silva 3-4 0-0 7, Tyra Polite 3-8 1-1 7, Kirsten Larson 1-2 0-0 3, Hannah Haynes 3-8 0-1 6, Anna Mastersen 1-3 3-3 5, Peyton Bockholt 2-2 0-0 4, Zoe Kelso 1-4 0-0 2, Breannie Robinson 2-3 2-5 6. Totals 28-70 14-18 76.

Halftime - Kirkwood 43, Grand View College JV 28. 3-point goals - Grand View 2-24 (Hummel 0-5, Davidson 0-7, Hansen 1-3, Carden 0-1, Rose 1-3, McCann 0-1, Detrick 0-4), Kirkwood 6-21 (Woolfolk 1-3, Tuttle 0-3, Fallon 3-3, Hall 0-3, Silva 1-2, Polite 0-4, Larson 1-1, Martensen 0-2). Rebounds - GV 36 (Westergard 9), KCC 48 (Haynes 7). Assists - GV 11 (Wilkinson 5), KCC 24 (Woolfolk 7). Total fouls - GV 20, KCC 13. Fouled out - none.