Kirkwood Womens Basketball

KCC women stroll to 19th win in row

The Kirkwood women's basketball team waltzed to its 19th straight  victory Wednesday night with a 95-31 victory over Southwestern in the opening round of the regional tournament at Johnson Hall.

The second-ranked Eagles (29-3) host Southeastern (22-9) in the semifinals Saturday at 1 p.m., with 12th-ranked NIACC (25-6) facing Iowa Central (17-14) in the other semifinal at 3 p.m. at Johnson Hall.

The regional championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. at  Johnson Hall, regardless of who's playing.

Mackenzie Jenkins led Kirkwood with 14 points and five rebounds. Tayana Wilson collected 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and  three steals. Olivia Usher and Arika Wooldridge scored 10 points apiece.

Keaundra Washington scored 11 points for Southwestern (8-22).

Kirkwood enjoyed a 50-16 bulge in rebounding and a 56-4 advantage in  bench points. Kirkwood used 13 players in the ballgame and all of them scored at least three points.

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Kirkwood set for regional basketball events

If the Kirkwood basketball teams keep winning this week, all of their games in the regional tournaments will be played on their home court at Johnson Hall in southwest Cedar Rapids.

The men's regional basketball tournament is scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Kirkwood is the No. 1 seed and has the home-court advantage, beginning with the quarterfinals Tuesday at 7 p.m. against the Little Priest Tribal College.

The women's regional tournament is scheduled for Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Kirkwood is the No. 1 seed and has the home-court advantage, beginning with the quarterfinals Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. against Southwestern, which downed Little Priest, 60-51, in a play-in game Monday night in Creston.

Kirkwood earned the top seeds as league champions.

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KCC women are perfect ICCAC champs

BOONE - Perfection is hard to achieve, but the Kirkwood women's basketball team has done it two years in a row.

The Eagles finished the ICCAC campaign with a perfect 14-0 record Saturday with a 70-46 victory over DMACC in Boone.

Kirkwood also breezed through the league last year with an unblemished mark on its way to the NJCAA Division II national title at 37-0.

Olivia Usher led a balanced attack with 15 points. Awal Ajak hit four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Megan Axcell hit three triples and had 13 points. Christmas Puok contributed 10 points and Tay Wilson dished out 10 assists.

Kirkwood won its 19th straight game and raised its overall mark to 28-3 in the final game of the regular season.

Molly Mitchell scored nine points for DMACC (20-11, 7-7).

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Robinson gives No. 2 Eagles a boost

Kirkwood Coach Kim Muhl never saw Leah Robinson play in high school and never saw her play in any spring or summer tournaments.

In fact, he cannot remember if Robinson played in any pick-up games when she visited Kirkwood on a recruiting trip last year.

It didn't matter.

The coach at Kentucky State University thought Robinson could use a little seasoning at a junior college before attending a four-year school, so he called Muhl and recommended his friend take a look.

Muhl also sought a second opinion from another college coach and got another strong recommendation.

"It's all about having friends," Muhl said Wednesday night with a smile. "She visited, liked it here and we signed her."

It turned out to be a great piece of recruiting, even though Muhl barely had to lift a finger.

Robinson has been a key reserve for the second-ranked Eagles all season and showed her worth again in a 78-42 stroll past Ellsworth in an ICCAC conference game at Johnson Hall.

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