Posted: Feb 29, 2024
#2 Eagles Soar Past Panthers
Cedar Rapids, IA- Kirkwood capped off their regular season with a 66-51 victory over Ellsworth on Wednesday night in Johnson Hall.
With the victory, the Eagles (28-2 / 19-1 ICCAC) clinched a share of the Region 11 championship along with Iowa Western.
Kirkwood & Iowa Western split their matchups during the season, so the tiebreaker came down to overall strength of schedule, which favored the Eagles.
Kirkwood will represent Region 11A as the top seed, while Iowa Western will be the top seed in Region 11B.
The Eagles jumped out to an early 7-0 lead before Ellsworth hit back-to-back three-pointers to draw within one at 7-6.
Kirkwood would score 8 straight points in a matter of 55 seconds to take a 15-6 lead & force an Ellsworth timeout.
The Eagles would go on to lead 24-16 after a quarter of play.
Ellsworth would open the second quarter with a three-pointer to cut the lead to 24-19.
Kirkwood would score the next 9 points to extend their lead to 33-19 with 7:24 remaining in the half.
The Eagles would own a 39-26 lead at halftime.
Kirkwood would take their largest lead of the game at 66-43 before Ellsworth would score the final 8 points of the game for the 66-51 final.
Sophomore Demetria Prewitt led the Eagles in scoring with 15 points, while sophomore Zhakyla Evans added 14 points.
Sophomore Kaylee Corbin also finished in double figures with 11 points.
The Eagles will face Ellsworth again on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm in Johnson Hall in the Region 11A semifinals.
