Kirkwood Community College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Kirkwood men dump No. 7 Iowa Central

FORT DODGE - The Kirkwood men's basketball team blasted seventh-ranked Iowa Central, 84-62, Saturday for its second big victory over a top-10 team in four days.

The Eagles whipped No. 2 Lincoln College, 71-55, Wednesday night.

Freshman Bailey Kale tossed in five 3-pointers and scored 19 points for Kirkwood in the 22-point victory Saturday in the ICCAC conference opener for both teams in Fort Dodge.

Chris King scored 13 points for the Eagles, who raised their overall record to 11-4. Doug Wilson had a big game for Kirkwood with 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. Carlo Marble added 10 points.

Kirkwood blew to a 24-point lead at halftime and cruised to the victory from there.

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Wilson stars as No. 2 Eagles roll

FORT DODGE - Tayana Wilson played a strong all-around game Saturday as the second-ranked Kirkwood Eagles rolled by Iowa Central, 73-47, in the opening game of the ICCAC campaign.

Wilson finished with 16 points, six rebounds, five assists, three steals and no turnovers for Kirkwood, which raised its overall record to 15-3.

Megan Axcell popped in three 3-pointers and scored 13 points for the Eagles. Olivia Usher had 12 points and Leah Robinson contributed 10 points off the bench.

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Stansbury sparks KCC by No. 2 Lincoln

There are hundreds of good colleges between L.J. Stansbury's home town in Delaware and way out here in Cedar Rapids, but he felt at home during his visit to Kirkwood and figured this would be a good place to play ball.

He was right.

Stansbury exploded off the bench Wednesday with 21 points and 10 rebounds to help the Eagles dump second-ranked Lincoln College, 71-55, in a non-conference game at Johnson Hall.

Stansbury, a versatile 6-foot-4 freshman who can play four positions, reached a career-high in points and rebounds and had a double-double by halftime.

"He was huge for us," said Kirkwood Coach Bryan Petersen. "He came off the bench and was able to score and rebound for us. That's the player we feel that L.J. can be."

Stansbury has started eight games for the Eagles this season, but he lost his spot in the lineup in December and has played as a reserve the last five games.

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Balanced No. 8 KCC women dump Loras JV

Kim Muhl has another strong basketball team at Kirkwood Community College this season.

The Lady Eagles are ranked eighth in the nation, boast a 14-3 record and are averaging 73.4 points per game, but there's something a little odd about this year's club.

Tay Wilson is the only player on the team who has a scoring average in double figures, and she was averaging 9.94 points before raising it to exactly 10.0 Thursday night in an 89-63 victory over the Loras junior varsity at Johnson Hall.

Awal Ajak is averaging 9.6 points, Leah Robinson 8.7, Megan Axcell 8.2, Olivia Usher 7.5 and Arika Wooldridge 6.5. All of them are capable of scoring a lot more on any given night - and most of them have - but Muhl likes to rotate a dozen players and share the wealth.

That was the story again Wednesday.

All 14 Eagles got into the game and 12 of them saw at least 10 minutes of court time. Twelve players got into the scoring column, but nobody had a monster game.

Axcell led the way with 13 points. Wilson and Ajak netted 11 apiece, but nobody else reached double figures.

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Kirkwood men hold off Dubuque JV

The search continues for the Kirkwood men's basketball team.

The search for a productive starting lineup. The search for an effective rotation. The search for success.

The Eagles held off the University of Dubuque junior varsity, 71-63, Thursday night at Johnson Hall, but Coach Bryan Petersen is still searching for the right answers with the conference race on the horizon.

"Obviously this wasn't a great overall effort from our group," said Petersen. "We won, but it's on me. We just didn't have the group ready to go tonight. Not a great effort."

Kirkwood has pounded a lot of JV teams over the years, but this was a competitive game from start to finish. The Eagles led by only one point at halftime, 34-33, and were never able to put the Spartans away despite opening a 13-point lead.

Just when it looked like the game was in the bag at 67-54, Dubuque scored nine straight points to make it 67-63.

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Eagles slay No.5 Illinois Central for title

PEORIA, Ill. - The Kirkwood Eagles got their revenge against Illinois  Central in the championship game of the Illinois Central holiday  tournament on Saturday.

The eighth-ranked Eagles rallied to defeat the fifth-ranked Cougars,  52-44, with a strong performance in the fourth quarter. Kirkwood  trailed 37-33 entering the final stanza, but the visitors outscored  the home team 19-7 in the last 10 minutes for the victory.

Illinois Central trimmed Kirkwood, 59-58, in the final round of the  Kirkwood tournament on Nov. 11, so the two premier junior college  basketball teams are knotted at 1-1 for the season.

Kirkwood finished with a perfect 37-0 record last season when Coach  Kim Muhl's club won the national championship. The Eagles are now 13-3  this year, making them 50-3 the last two years.

Tay Wilson led Kirkwood Saturday with 14 points, seven rebounds, three  assists and two steals. Awal Ajak scored 13 points and Arika  Wooldridge contributed 11 points off the bench.

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No. 8 KCC women top No.10 Owens

PEORIA, Ill. - Tay Wilson popped in 20 points Friday afternoon to help  the eighth-ranked Kirkwood women's basketball team defeat 10th-ranked  Owens, 77-63, in the semifinals of the Illinois Central holiday  tournament.

Kirkwood (12-3) plays for the championship Saturday.

Olivia Usher scored 17 points and collected seven assists against  Owens. Megan Axcell contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds for a  double-double. Awal Ajak added 13 points.

Kirkwood made twelve 3-pointers in the ballgame. Axcell hit four  triples, while Wilson and Ajak had three apiece.

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Robinson leads No. 8 Eagles by Sauk Valley

PEORIA, Ill. - Freshman Leah Robinson poured in 23 points Thursday afternoon as the eighth-ranked Kirkwood women's basketball team drubbed Sauk Valley, 98-39, in the opening round of the Illinois Central Holiday Tournament.

Robinson, a 6-foot-1 forward from Evanston, Ill., canned 10 of 13 shots from the field and scored her career-best for the Eagles.

Tay Wilson contributed 15 points, five assists and three steals for Kirkwood. Tinee'sha Coleman scored 14 points. Arika Wooldridge had 11 points and seven rebounds. Christmas Puok grabbed 10 rebounds.

Kirkwood (11-3) advanced to the semifinals of the tournament Friday at 2 p.m.

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KCC women fall to Chi-Town All-Stars

SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. - The sixth-ranked Kirkwood women's basketball team lost to the Chi-Town All-Stars, 74-67, in the second round of the South Suburban Christmas Classic Saturday afternoon.

Awal Ajak tossed in 16 points with four 3-pointers for the Eagles and was named to the all-tournament team.

Leah Robinson scored 12 points for the Eagles, who fell to 10-3 for the campaign. Megan Axcell contributed nine points and seven rebounds. Olivia Usher had five assists.

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