Kirkwood handed Joliet an 87-39 defeat in the first round of the Clarion-Kirkwood Classic Friday night at Johnson Hall.

For the third time in as many games the Eagles (3-0) simply overwhelmed their opponent.

A full-court pressure defense that smothered Joliet’s offense in combination with an efficient Eagles offense that saw 12 different players score was more than enough to put away the Lady Wolves.

“We are at the beginning of the season and we are just trying to get better and develop depth,” said Kirkwood Coach Kim Muhl.  “They seem to be a resilient group of women and if they work hard, I think they have a chance to be very successful.”

Alexis Fitzpatrick and Kianna Jacobs led Kirkwood in scoring with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Sierra Chambers chipped in 11 off the bench.

“We basically move the ball to open up the post and how they (foes) react dictates where and how we attack the basket,” explained Fitzpatrick. “These kinds of games give us all a chance to learn how the offense and defense work and how they fit together.”

“Once we began to cause turnovers with our press we began to take over the game,” said Jacobs.  “The more we get to run our stuff the better we will get each day.”

In Friday night's first game, Iowa Central defeated Kishwaukee, 52-51.

The Classic concludes Saturday afternoon. Iowa Central plays Joliet at 1 p.m. Kirkwood plays Kishwaukee at 3 p.m.

JOLIET (39): Pates 5 0-0 10, McCurdey 2 2-3 6, Bennett 1 0-0 2, Baker 1 0-0 2, Warren 4 2-4 11, Williams 1 0-0 2, Allen 1 1-2 3, Turner 0 2-2 2, Lofton 0 0-0 0, Washington 0 0-0 0, Hawkins 0 0-0 0.  Totals 15 7-11 39.

KIRKWOOD (87): Dufelmeier 3 0-0 9, Jacobs 5 4-5 14, Rohrbach 3 2-2 9, Fitzpatrick 5 3-3 15, Chuol 0 0-0 0, Henderson 2 0-0 4, Hobbs 2 0-0 4, Tow 3 0-0 6, Williams 3 0-0 7, Fallon 2 0-0 5, Faber 1 0-0 2, Hawkins 0 0-0 0, Chambers 5 1-1 11, Gray 0 1-2 1.  Totals 34 11-13 87.

Halftime - Kirkwood 43, Joliet 19. 3-point goals - Joliet 1 (Warren 1), Kirkwood 8 (Dufelmeier 3, Fallon 1, Rohrbach 1, Fitzpatrick 2, Williams 1).  Fouled out - none