Posted: 11/04/14  • By The Telegram Staff

IOWA FALLS, Iowa -- The Raiders overcame a sluggish start to stay unbeaten on the year.

The Central Community College women's basketball team picked up a 98-77 win over Ellsworth Community College Tuesday in Iowa Falls, Iowa.

Out of the gate, the Raiders pushed Ellsworth. They pushed perhaps a tad too much, as Central fell into foul trouble early.

"We came out aggressive, then we had a couple of fouls to start the game," Central head coach Mike Kroupa said.

With 6-foot-3 freshman LaShonda Brewer out of the game because of sickness, the Raiders were shorthanded at post, so Central moved to a 1-3-1 zone.

That turned out to be a good choice.

"We got down 7-2 to start the game and got into some foul trouble, so we switched to a 1-3-1 zone and we stayed in it the rest of the game and we were successful with it."

The Raiders broke out of the hole fairly quickly, taking a 45-34 lead by halftime.

Central's offense cruised through the second half, outscoring Ellsworth by 10 points.

"We have some really good shooters this year," Kroupa said. "In my three years, we've never moved the ball as well as we can now, so we're really pleased with where we are offensively this year."

That offense was led by Montrese Weller's 25 points, which included five 3-pointers.

Adrianna Beck and Paige Muhammad each tallied 18 points and Lana'e Washington-Carson added 15 points for the Raiders.

Central plays the Adams JV Friday on the road.

Tuesday at Iowa Falls

Central (2-0) 45 53 - 98

Ellsworth (0-3) 34 43 - 77

* Central - Adrianna Beck 18, Paige Muhammad 18, Kami Johnson 5, Paige Higginbotham 3, Lana'e Washington-Carson 15, Shananthia Bryant 7, McKenna Rossmeier 7, Montrese Weller 25

* 3-point field goals - Central 11 (Beck 2, Muhammad 2, Higginbotham 1, Rossmeier 1, Weller 5)