The Iowa Central women relied on defense and rebounding to overcome a 14-point deficit and top Southwestern here Wednesday night inside Hodges Fieldhouse, 77-65.

Nevaeh Galloway and Carley West each had double-doubles, with Autumn Dykstra scoring a team-high 21 points for the 18th-ranked Tritons (16-1 overall, 6-1 in ICCAC).

Galloway had 14 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals, while West finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Jayden Frank added nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

“We talked at the half about playing better defense and rebounding the ball,” Iowa Central head coach Brian Ortmeier said. “I thought we did a better job of doing both of those things in the second half. That also allowed us to get out and get into transition, which led to better scoring.”

The Spartans (2-15, 2-6) took a 47-33 lead on the heels of a 23-6 run in the first half. Kaylynn Tucker had 22 points and Alyssa Morris 19 for Southwestern, who was forced to forfeit seven games this year.

“We knew they had three key players back and they got a lot of scoring out of (Tucker and Morris) early,” Ortmeier said. “We were able to put that run on them at the end of the third and that kind of deflated their spirits a little.”

Dykstra and Ashley Fountain each had 3-pointers in the final moments of the third to put Iowa Central up 59-55. That continued right over into the fourth, as they put together a 19-0 run to go up 18.

Fountain finished with eight points and eight rebounds while Taylor McKinney added six.

This game marked the start of a five-day stretch where the Tritons will play three games. On Thursday, Iowa Central heads to Boone to face Des Moines Area before returning home to meet Southeastern on Saturday.

“It was big to start off with a win and get some momentum,” Ortmeier said. “We know DMACC is going to be big and physical, and we have to be ready to go from the start.”