Kirkwood Womens Basketball

Short-handed Eagles top SCC

At one point during Wednesday's game against Southeastern at Johnson Hall, Kirkwood women's basketball coach Kim Muhl turned to his bench looking for players.

The No. 2 Eagles already had four players sitting in street clothes. When Muhl turned, one player was getting checked out by a trainer and yet another had run to the locker room area not feeling well.

"We got a couple of kids sick and we got a couple of kids (banged up)," Muhl said. "We're holding it together with a Band-Aid right now."

Still, the Eagles found a way to win. They jumped to an early 12-0 lead only to see the visitors cut the margin to one in the third quarter before pulling away for a 63-44 ICCAC triumph.

"It was a tough team win," said the veteran Kirkwood coach. "I think the kids gutted it out. It was just one of those things where you have to tough it out."

Kirkwood (20-5, 10-0) won for the ninth straight time, but did it without starters Ashley Tull and Haley Mullinnix. Tull, Kirkwood's leading scorer at just over 10 points per game, is out for the season after tearing her ACL in the Eagles' earlier win over the Blackhawks on Jan 17. Mullinnix, who has played some of her best basketball over the past couple of weeks, was injured in last Saturday's win over Little Priest.

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Kirkwood teams rank 1-2 in nation

One of their basketball teams is ranked No. 1 in the country and their other team is ranked No. 2.

It's been a terrific year for the Kirkwood Eagles so far this season.

The Kirkwood men's basketball team moved into the No. 1 spot in the NJCAA Division II rankings this week with a 20-2 record. They were second in the poll last week.

The Kirkwood women's team jumped two spots into the No. 2 position in the poll with a 19-5 overall mark.

Prominent national rankings are nothing new at Kirkwood, of course. The Kirkwood men won the national title in 2016 and Coach Bryan Petersen has fashioned a 146-36 record in six years as head coach.

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KCC women pound Little Priest

WINNEBAGO, Neb. - The fourth-ranked Kirkwood women's basketball team dumped Little Priest Tribal College, 75-44, in an ICCAC conference game in Nebraska Saturday.

The game was tied 24-24 at halftime, but the Eagles began the third quarter with a 22-2 spurt to take command.

Anasha Hurst scored 17 points to lead Kirkwood (19-5, 9-0). Paige Bradford contributed 16 points and eight rebounds. Mackenzie Jenkins had 14 points. Leah Robinson grabbed nine rebounds.

Little Priest fell to 10-11 overall and 2-7.

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No. 4 KCC women roll by Ellsworth

Seven different members of the Kirkwood women's basketball team scored  in double figures Thursday night as the fourth-ranked Eagles walloped  Ellsworth, 103-48, in an ICCAC conference game at Johnson Hall.

Kirkwood raised its records to 18-5 overall and 8-0 in the conference with the easy victory. Ellsworth has played 21 games this season and has lost them all, including all eight in the league.

Ju Gaston topped the charts for Kirkwood with 16 points. Leah  Robinson, Haley Mullinnix and Natalie Tomaszewski scored 13 points apiece. Anasha Hurst, Johanna Myers and Brianna Mensen had 11 points.

Hurst collected five assists, five steals and four rebounds in addition to her 11 points. Robinson and Mensen grabbed seven rebounds. Gaston, Mullinnix and Myers made three 3-pointers.

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