The Iowa Central women are playing some of their best basketball at the moment.

And that is exactly what head coach Brian Ortmeier wants.

The Tritons rolled into a regional final here Tuesday night behind a strong defensive effort, 68-46 over Southeastern inside Hodges Fieldhouse.

Iowa Central (12-8 overall) will now face No. 17 Des Moines Area in the Region XI-B Tournament final on Saturday in Boone. The Bears (14-5) advanced with a win over North Iowa Area last night, 74-52.

Isabell West picked up another double-double, scoring a game-high 24 points with 13 rebounds. The Murray State commit has 25 career double-doubles.

Nevaeh Galloway added 13 points, Autumn Dykstra scored 12 and Carley West chipped in seven as Ortmeier emptied his bench early in the fourth quarter.

“I was most pleased with our defensive effort,” the first-year coach said. “We know they can hit the 3-pointer, but we did a great job of defending that and taking it away from them.”

Southeastern (4-19) finished just 6 of 33 from long-range as Chainee Hall scored team-high 12 points.

The Tritons were plus-17 on the glass and shot nearly 44 percent from the field. Nine different players scored.

“We knew coming in that we had to get after them and force our style,” Ortmeier said. “We’ve been playing pretty good basketball here as of late. Now, we’ve got to keep it going.”

Iowa Central knocked off DMACC down the stretch in the regular season in Boone, 69-63. The Bears earned a 67-63 victory in the first meeting.

IOWA CENTRAL 68, SOUTHEASTERN 46

Iowa Central — Autumn Dykstra 4-9 1-2 12, Jordan Engbrecht 1-4 0-0 3, Nevaeh Galloway 5-10 0-0 13, Carley West 3-8 0-0 7, Isabell West 8-12 7-8 24, Nevaeh Moeschter 1-4 0-0 2, Holley Johnson 1-2 0-1 2, Taylor McKinney 0-3 0-0 0, Jocelyn Amos 1-1 1-2 3, Jacie Stephenson 1-1 0-0 2, Viatris Scott 0-1 0-0 0, Emilyce Brown 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 25-57 9-13 68.

Southeastern — Chainee Hall 2-10 6-6 12, Michenna Davis 3-8 2-2 10, Terryn Tiller 1-4 0-0 3, Antuanae Garrett 0-13 0-0 0, Destiny Cressy 2-8 1-2 5, Mya Bills 4-12 2-2 10, D’Shanna Schuster 0-5 1-2 1, Destiny Estes 2-8 0-0 5. Totals: 14-68 12-14 46.

Quarter scores: Iowa Central led 18-5, 36-15, 59-23. Three-point goals: Iowa Central 9-25 (Dykstra 3-7, Engbrecht 1-3, Galloway 3-5, C. West 1-3, I. West 1-1, Moeschter 0-3, McKinney 0-3), Southeastern 6-33. Rebounds: Iowa Central 52, Southeastern 35. Assists: Iowa Central 15, Southeastern 7. Steals: Iowa Central 13, Southeastern 12. Blocked shots: Iowa Central 6, Southeastern 0. Turnovers: Iowa Central 30, Southeastern 20. Fouls: Iowa Central 13, Southeastern 17.