DES MOINES – Sheray Brown (Jr.-Detroit, Mich.) and Jessi Beachey (Jr.-Fisher, Ill.) dominated play inside and Iowa Wesleyan College held Midland Lutheran (Neb.) College to 28.3% shooting in a 71-43 win Saturday afternoon at the Grand View Classic.
Brown had 18 points and nine rebounds and Beachey added 16 points and seven rebounds as the Tigers improved to 2-0 and finished with a sweep of two games at the tourney. Midland Lutheran lost its fourth straight game to start the year, falling to 0-4.
IWC scored 19 straight points in the first half, holding the Warriors scoreless for nearly seven minutes while taking a 22-4 lead early on. Midland Lutheran went on an 8-2 run to cut the margin to 12 points but the Tigers then finished the half with a 14-3 run over the final 8:58 to take a 38-15 lead into halftime. Beachey had 12 of her 16 points in the first half and also added five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
Wesleyan maintained a lead of more than 20 points for almost the entire second half. The Warriors briefly cut the deficit to 15 points early in the half, but IWC went on another run, this time outscoring MLC 16-5 over a five minute span that included a pair of three-pointers by Brown as well as another three by Lindsee Bachicha (Jr.-Brighton, Colo.).
The Tigers shot 43.6% for the game, hitting 24 of 55 field goals. IWC also made 8 of 21 three-point tries (38.1%) and canned 15 of 16 free throws (93.8%).
Jill Ginder (Jr.-Olney, Ill.) added eight points and a game-high six assists. Beachey and B rown also tied for the team lead with four steals.
The Tigers will hit the road again next weekend, traveling to Point Lookout, Mo., for a tourney hosted by the College of the Ozarks. IWC will open play on Friday against John Brown (Ark.) University at 5:30 p.m.
