Kirkwood Community College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

No. 2 Eagles smother DMACC by 59

You don't see a team held scoreless for an entire quarter in a women's basketball game too often, but it happened Wednesday night at Johnson Hall.

The second-ranked Kirkwood Eagles pelted DMACC 31-0 in the third period and buried the Bears, 95-36, in an ICCAC contest.

Kemara Watson and Tatiana Hodges-Johnson scored 14 points apiece for Kirkwood (23-2, 10-1). Paige Bradford netted 13 points and Delani Harris added 12.

DMACC fell to 9-16 overall and 3-9 in the conference. The Bears launched 41 3-pointers in the 40-minute game and made four of them.

Read more...

No. 6 KCC softball sweeps at tourney

WEST BURLINGTON - The sixth-ranked Kirkwood softball team won both of  its games in the SCC Tournament at the Fun City indoor complex in West  Burlington Sunday.

The Eagles topped Marshalltown, 11-3, in their first game and trimmed  Southeastern, 6-5, to finish the event with a 3-1 record.

Kirkwood scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to erase a  4-3 deficit and trim Southeastern in the second game. Randyn Carter  and Jessie Frasher belted home runs for the winners.

Carter collected three RBIs in Game 2 and Frasher drove in two runs.  Autum Barthelman had two hits. Isabelle True pitched four innings in  relief for the victory.

Read more...

No. 2 Eagles sink Iowa Lakes

ESTHERVILLE - Paige Bradford and Tatiana Hodges-Johnson scored 15  points apiece Saturday as the second-ranked Kirkwood Eagles topped  Iowa Lakes, 75-51, in an ICCAC conference game in Estherville.

Addison Rath contributed a career-high 11 points, seven rebounds, four  steals and three assists off the bench. She scored seven points during  an 18-3 surge in the second half when the Eagles sealed the victory.

Kirkwood raised its records to 22-2 overall and 9-1 in the conference.  Top-ranked NIACC leads the league at 12-0 in the 16-game season.

Shareece Smith scored 20 points for Iowa Lakes (15-8, 6-5).

Read more...

No. 8 Iowa Lakes dunks No. 12 Eagles

ESTHERVILLE - The 12th-ranked Kirkwood men's basketball team fell out  of a tie for the conference lead Saturday when they lost to  eighth-ranked Iowa Lakes, 81-64, in an ICCAC game in Estherville.

DMACC leads the standings at 8-1, followed by Iowa Lakes at 8-2 and  Kirkwood at 7-2 in the tight race.

Devonte Thedford led Kirkwood with 21 points. Luke Appel collected a  double-double with 10 ponits and 13 rebounds, but fouled out.

Iowa Lakes raced to a 19-point lead at halftime, 35-16, and raised its  overall record to 20-4.

Read more...

No. 6 KCC softball splits openers

WEST BURLINGTON - The sixth-ranked Kirkwood softball team split two  games Saturday at the SCC Dome Tournament in West Burlington.

The Eagles were pounded by Indian Hills, 12-0, in the season opener at  the Fun City complex and got only one hit against the winners, who are  ranked No. 8 in NJCAA Division I softball.

Kirkwood bounced back with a 10-5 victory over Iowa Western with home  runs by Randyn Carter, London Jackson and Angie Gorkow. Carter was  2-for-2 and drove in three runs. Jayme Finn collected three RBIs.  Shelby Hulsebus and Courtney Harris had two hits. Jackson drove in two runs.

The Eagles trailed, 5-4, but scored six times in the bottom of the  fourth inning for the victory in the five-inning game.

Read more...

Appel nets 43 as Eagles trim Coe

Luke Appel poured in a career-high 43 points Tuesday night as the  12th-ranked Kirkwood Eagles rallied to defeat the Coe junior varsity, 95-89, at Johnson Hall.

Appel, a 6-foot-7 sophomore from Marshalltown, shot 18 for 22 from the field and canned a pair of 3-pointers.

Coe led by nine points with about three minutes remaining, but the Eagles forced turnovers and surged to their 18th victory in 22 games.

DJ Purnell finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds for Kirkwood. Seybian Sims collected 10 rebounds, eight points, three assists and three steals.

Sean Oberman scored 19 points for Coe. The Kohawks made sixteen 3-pointers, with Zach Bushbaum nailing five triples.

Read more...

Kirkwood women roll by Southwestern

CRESTON - Paige Bradford collected a double-double Saturday as the top-ranked Kirkwood women's basketball team smashed Southwestern, 87-49, in an ICCAC conference game.

Bradford finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and five assists for the Eagles (21-2, 8-1).

Kemara Watson scored 14 points, Amara Lipsey 13 and Kortney Drake 12 for Kirkwood.

Jordan Simone scored 12 points for Southwestern (8-14, 3-6).

Read more...

No. 14 KCC men stay tied for No. 1

CRESTON - The 14th-ranked Kirkwood men's basketball team strolled by Southwestern, 98-65, Saturday to stay in a three-way tie for first place in the ICCAC conference.

The Eagles are 17-4 overall and 7-1 in the league, tied with DMACC and Iowa Lakes at the top of the standings.

Devonte Thedford finished with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists for Kirkwood in a balanced attack. Jamal Stephenson scored 15 points, DJ Purnell 14, Jalen Taylor 14 and Luke Appel 13 for the Eagles.

Purnell, Niko Gosnell and Seybian Sims had eight rebounds. Taylor hit four 3-pointers off the bench.

Read more...

Appel shines as Kirkwood nips NIACC

Luke Appel knew he needed to get stronger and develop better moves around the basket to become a major force for the Kirkwood Eagles this season.

Mission accomplished.

Appel stuffed the stat sheet Wednesday night with 27 points, 17 rebounds and six assists as the 14th-ranked Eagles held off 12th-ranked NIACC, 89-88, in an ICCAC conference thriller at Johnson Hall.

The victory lifted Kirkwood into a three-way for first place in the conference with DMACC and Iowa Lakes with 6-1 records.

Appel, a 6-foot-8 sophomore from Marshalltown, averaged 9.7 points and 6.5 rebounds last season when Kirkwood won the NJCAA Division II national title. Now he's producing 15.5 points and 8.3 rebounds and getting the ball at crunch time.

When the Eagles needed a big bucket Wednesday night, they looked for Appel in the low post, just like they did last year when Doug Wilson was the star of the show.

"I've kind of grown into the role," Appel said. "Doug was my mentor last year and I kind of just learned from him.

"He's an All-American and he's averaging 20 at a Division I school (South Dakota State), so I learned from him every day. And I tried to get as strong as I could this summer and try to become the best I could be.

"I really didn't lift in high school, but I've learned to love it. I was in there all summer."

Read more...