CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA -- For the second time this season the Ellsworth women's basketball team got an up-close look at the nation's top-rated team as No. 1 Kirkwood blasted the Panthers, 115-37, on Thursday night at Johnson Hall.  KCC, which has lost only once in 27 games and is unbeaten in 17 ICCAC contests, had defeated ECC, 109-35, in Iowa Falls earlier in the campaign.

In the return match, Kirkwood roared away to a 27-11 lead after one quarter and built the advantage over the final 3 periods.  They made a season-high 20 3-pointers, 8 of them by Kortney Drake, who led all scorers with 24 points.  Alyssa Civitak and Halle Miller topped the Panthers with 8 points apiece.  Miller made Ellsworth's only three.  They were 1-of-12 from distance.  Teresa Paulsen pulled down 9 rebounds and blocked a pair of shots.

The next two games will be at home for Ellsworth -- against Iowa Central Saturday afternoon and vs. NIACC next Wednesday.