Kirkwood Womens Basketball

No. 2 Eagles clinch tie for title

The Kirkwood women's basketball team has five sophomores in the starting lineup who helped the Eagles win the national title last year.

Their next five players are darn good, too.

The second-ranked Eagles got another big boost from their reserves Wednesday night and dumped Southeastern, 82-57, to clinch at least a tie for the ICCAC conference title.

Kirkwood has a three-game lead over NIACC with three games left in the regular season. The Eagles swept the season series from NIACC, so even if the race ends in a tie - which it won't - the Eagles have already clinched the No. 1 seed for the regional.

Coach Kim Muhl has a deep and talented roster, from top to bottom. Not only did the Kirkwood reserves smoke the SCC subs 49-7 in bench points Wednesday, they also outscored their own starters 49-33.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if Kirkwood's starting lineup played the No. 2 unit in practice, especially if they took it seriously for 40 minutes.

"I think the next-5 would beat the top-5," said freshman Mackenzie Jenkins, who's part of that No. 2 group.

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No. 2 KCC women win 14th straight

The graduating sophomores on the Kirkwood women's basketball team were honored after their choppy victory over Iowa Lakes on Saturday, but otherwise there was not a whole lot to celebrate at Johnson Hall.

It took the second-ranked Eagles more than seven minutes to make their first field goal in a sluggish 59-44 outing that lacked passion and execution for most of the afternoon.

"That was an ugly one," Kirkwood Coach Kim Muhl acknowledged.

Pretty or not, the Eagles raised their records to 24-3 overall and 10-0 in the conference with their 14th win a row. The Eagles own a three-game lead in the ICCAC standings with four games remaining as they march toward another league title.

Muhl was happy to leave the gym with a 15-point victory considering the circumstances on Sophomore Day.

"It's hard when it's snowing and they're worried about their parents getting here. They lose focus," he said.

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Wilson lifts No. 2 Eagles at buzzer

MASON CITY - Tay Wilson hit a 15-footer with one second remaining Wednesday night to snap a 68-68 tie and give the second-ranked Kirkwood Eagles a riveting 70-68 victory over 13th-ranked NIACC in an ICCAC conference game in Mason City.

The win gave the Kirkwood women a commanding three-game lead in the conference standings over NIACC and DMACC with five games left in the season.

Kirkwood led NIACC by three points, 68-65, with time dwindling, but NIACC hit a long 3-pointer from about 28 feet to tie the game at 68-68 with eight seconds left.

Kirkwood Coach Kim Muhl called a timeout and instructed his players to feed Arika Wooldridge near the basket. Wooldridge got the ball and fed Wilson near the elbow of the foul line for the game-winning shot.

The Eagles raised their records to 23-3 overall and 9-0 in the conference with their 13th straight victory. NIACC fell to 19-6 overall and 6-3 in the league.

Kirkwood has won its nine conference games by an average of 23.8 points, but NIACC has given the Eagles their tightest games of the ICCAC campaign by far. Kirkwood won by nine points, 68-59, in Cedar Rapids earlier this season before the two-point squeaker Wednesday night.

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No. 2 Eagles pass chemistry test

The Kirkwood Eagles feel good about themselves when they make a good play, but they seem happiest when one of their teammates does something even better.

It's called chemistry and it's been a key ingredient for the second-ranked Eagles this season.

Kirkwood collected its 12th straight victory Saturday and remained in control of the ICCAC conference race with an 80-39 victory over Iowa Central in a women's basketball game at Johnson Hall.

Sophomore point guard Tay Wilson led the Eagles (22-3, 8-0) with 19 points, five steals and four assists, but her biggest smiles were for the other Eagles who joined the fun.

Freshman Mackenzie Jenkins popped off the bench and popped in four 3-pointers for 14 points. Sophomore Megan Axcell hit three triples and scored 11 points in the triumph. Many other Eagles also played well and there were lots of smiles go around.

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