12/09/14 • By Zach Chriswell / zchriswell@columbustelegram.com

COLUMBUS -- In a game closer than the final score indicated, the Raiders outlasted the Prairie Wolves.

The Central Community College women's basketball team defeated the Nebraska Wesleyan JV 98-72 Tuesday at the Raider Fieldhouse.

"You're always happy with a win," Central head coach Mike Kroupa said. "There's no such thing as a bad win. I think we could have played better, especially in the first half. Defensively, I'm not very happy. But we picked it up in the second half and hopefully we just continue to get better."

Wesleyan connected on its first shot of the game -- a 3-pointer. Central rattled off seven straight points and stayed in the lead for the remainder of the game.

However, the Prairie Wolves kept it interesting for most of the game. The Raiders would start to run away, then Wesleyan would chip into the Central lead.

The Raiders' biggest lead of the first half came on the heels of a 12-0 Central run that pushed the Raider lead to 39-23.

Wesleyan, though, fought back with an 8-0 run a few possessions later to cut the Central lead to just eight.

At the half, Central led Wesleyan 52-41.

"I felt comfortable, but it was definitely frustrating when we would get up by a lot, then they would chip into our lead," Kroupa said. "In the second half, we felt very comfortable after the first couple of minutes. It was good to get some playing time for everyone."

The Prairie Wolves got within eight points of the Raiders in the second half, before Central started to run away.

"We just decided to play is really what it was," Kroupa said. "I kept telling the girls, lately especially, when our defense is going, it creates our offense. (Tuesday) was the perfect example of that. When we played good defense, we were getting easy buckets."

After allowing 41 Wesleyan points in the first half, the Raiders held them to 31 points in the second half.

Central's biggest lead was 31 points, which came late in the second half.

The Raiders got it done with balanced scoring, with five players recording at least 13 points.

Paige Muhammad led the Raiders with 19 points, Montrese Weller scored 17 points, Adrianna Beck added 16 points, Lana'e Washington-Carson chipped in 14 points, and Makayla Augustine had 13 points.

"I saw a lot of great teamwork, a lot of great hustle," Kroupa said. "We did a much better job this game than we've done in the past of working for a good shot, rather than just taking the first open look."

Muhammad also tallied nine assists and four steals for the Raiders.

Central hosts National Junior College Athletic Association Division I, No. 6 Iowa Western Thursday.

Tuesday at the Raider Fieldhouse

Nebraska Wesleyan 41 31 - 72

Central (8-6) 52 46 - 98

* WESLEYAN (field goals-free throws-fouls-points) - Madi Montgomery 2 4-5 0 8; Stacy Beller 6 1-1 1 14; Chelsea Renz 3 4-5 5 10; Jamie Stoner 3 0-0 4 7; Emily Bolduan 3 1-2 0 10; Kylee Ashley 2 1-2 3 5; Kaylee Glover 8 0-0 1 16; Annie Rohrig 1 0-0 2 2. Totals 28 11-15 16 72.

* CENTRAL - Adrianna Beck 6 0-0 0 16; Paige Muhammad 8 1-3 0 19; Precious Bell 1 0-0 1 2; Kelsey Flaherty 1 0-0 2 2; Paige Higginbotham 0 0-0 1 0; Lana'e Washington-Carson 5 4-4 1 14; Shananthia Bryant 2 0-0 4 4; McKenna Rossmeier 2 2-3 1 6; Montrese Weller 7 0-0 0 17; LaShonda Brewer 1 0-0 1 2; Kami Johnson 1 1-2 1 3; Makayla Augustine 3 7-11 1 13. Totals 37 15-23 13 98.

* 3-point field goals - Wesleyan 5 (Bolduan 3, Stoner 1, Beller 1), Central 9 (Beck 4, Weller 3, Muhammad 2).