Two wins put Coe women on a roll

Small steps have led to giant leaps for the Coe women.

Two wins last week against league stalwarts Wartburg and Simpson put Coe in position to claim its first Iowa Conference women's basketball title.

Coe went into last night's game against Central (2-21, 1-13 Iowa Conference) trailing Simpson by one-half game. The Kohawks (16-7, 11-3) close the regular season Saturday at Buena Vista (15-8, 9-5). Simpson (19-5, 12-3) is at Dubuque (15-8, 9-5) Saturday. Wartburg (17-7, 11-4) is in the mix if Coe and Simpson lose a game.

Simpson is the two-time defending champion and has won three of the last four conference crowns.

“Simpson has been a great team,” Coe Coach Randi Peterson said. “It's nice to finally be able to compete against them.”

Coe beat Simpson for only the second time, 62-55, last Saturday at Eby Fieldhouse. The Kohawks held Simpson 24 points below its scoring average and forced 28 turnovers.

“Defense is not what a lot of people consider to be fun, but it gets the job done,” Peterson said.

Peterson said the Kohawks have gotten to this point by setting attainable goals, such as limiting opponent shooting percentages, rebounding and free throw opportunities.

“It's fine to set the goal of winning a conference championship, but how are you going to do it?” she said. “It's the little steps that make for big jumps.”

Fourth time a charm?

The top two teams in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference will try for a fourth time to play at Johnson Hall when NJCAA Division II No. 2 Kirkwood (24-1, 13-0) hosts No. 6 Iowa Central (22-3, 12-2) tonight at 7. The game was postponed three times by weather, the latest Monday.

Because of postponements, Kirkwood plays five games in eight days to end its league season.

Clinchers

The Iowa Wesleyan (21-7, 14-1) women have wrapped up the Midwest Collegiate Conference title. Mount Mercy (18-10, 10-4) was in third place, but hosted No. 2 Grand View (22-7, 12-3) last night. The MCC tournament starts Feb. 25 with four games at campus sites. The championship game is March 1 at the site of the highest remaining seed.

The Central (19-4, 12-2) men have clinched the Iowa Conference title. Cornell (14-9, 8-6) is in a five-team logjam for a top-four finish that would give it a first-round home game in the conference tournament.