Muhl nets 899th victory at Kirkwood
COUNCIL BLUFFS - Kim Muhl is on the verge of reaching another milestone as the Hall of Fame women's basketball coach at Kirkwood Community College.
The top-ranked Eagles clipped Jefferson College, 78-68, in the second round of the Iowa Western Classic Saturday to give Muhl his 899th victory in 31 years at Kirkwood.
Muhl's first chance to reach 900 wins will come Wednesday night when the Eagles visit Southeastern Community College in Keokuk at 6 p.m.
Muhl has compiled an 899-158 mark at Kirkwood with seven NJCAA Division II national titles. The Eagles are 9-0 this season heading into conference games.
Paige Bradford scored 18 points on 8-for-9 shooting and grabbed six rebounds to guide Kirkwood past Jefferson. Amara Lipsey finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
Kemara Watson contributed 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Eagles. Tatiana Hodges-Johnson pitched in with eight points and eight rebounds. Ju Gaston had six assists.
The game was tied, 35-35, at halftime, but Kirkwood enjoyed a 24-10 advantage in the third quarter to grab a 14-point lead.
Kirkwood collected 20 assists and had only 11 turnovers in 40 minutes and won the rebounding battle, 47-37. That helped offset a poor shooting display on 3-pointers, hitting only 2 of 21. Jefferson College was 3-for-17 on 3-pointers.
Tyra Brown had 27 points and 15 rebounds for Jefferson (6-5).
JEFFERSON (68): TonQuasha Hayes 0-6 0-0 0, Tyra Brown 8-23 11-23 27, Gemma Ruiz Garcia 0-4 1-3 1, Chiara De Virgillio 6-9 0-0 13, Kelly Hunter 6-13 3-6 17, McKenzie Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Katerina Patkova 1-3 0-0 2, Kendall Boyer 0-2 0-0 0, Aida Castell 2-5 4-4 8. Totals 23-65 19-25 68.
KIRKWOOD (78): Paige Bradford 8-9 2-3 18, Tatiana Hodges-Johnson 3-9 2-2 8, Ju Gaston 2-5 1-2 5, Amara Lipsey 6-14 2-2 16, Marissa Metz 1-5 1-1 3, Delani Harris 1-11 1-1 3, Jheda Kennedy 0-0 0-0 0, Kortney Drake 3-7 0-0 6, Addison Rath 1-2 1-2 3, Natalie Tomaszewski 1-8 0-0 2, Kemara Watson 6-11 2-3 14. Totals 32-81 12-16 78.
Halftime - Kirkwood 35, Jefferson 35. 3-point goals - Jefferson 3-17 (Hunter 2-5, De Virgillio 1-3, Patkova 0-1, Boyer 0-1, Hayes 0-3, Brown 0-4), Kirkwood 2-21 (Lipsey 2-6, Hodges-Johnson 0-1, Gaston 0-2, Metz 0-2, Tomaszewski 0-2, Drake 0-3, Harris 0-5).
