Storm fire on all cylinders, cruise past Elmhurst

INDIANOLA, Iowa - Morgan Mauro led a balanced attack as the Simpson women's basketball team played its best game of the season in an 84-51 win over Elmhurst on Tuesday afternoon.

Mauro made four 3-pointers and led three players in double figures with 12 points as the Storm (5-4) snapped a two-game losing streak.

Simpson shot 45 percent from the field, made eight 3s and outrebounded Elmhurst 45-33.

Maybe the most impressive facet of the Simpson's performance came on the defensive side. The Storm held Elmhurst to just 15 field goals on the afternoon and didn't allow a field goal for the first 10 minutes, 16 seconds of the game.

Mauro's first 3 of the gave Simpson a 7-2 lead with 17:07 left in the first half and sparked a 13-0 run. A layup by Morgan Terpstra with 12:42 left capped the run, which gave Simpson with a 17-2 lead.

The Storm never saw their lead dip below 13 the rest of the way.

Markayla Mahr led the defensive effort with four blocks to go along with 10 points and Maddie Muhlenbruck chipped in with 10 points of her own. Terpstra, Whitney Van Wyk and MacKenzie Haupt each scored nine points off the bench as Simpson's reserves outscored Elmhurst's 43-17.

Fiona McMahon scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Bluejays (7-2), whose only loss coming into the day was to No. 9 (D3hoops.com) UW-Whitewater.

Simpson has two games remaining in 2013, as it will head to the JustAGame Holiday Tournament in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. on Dec. 28-29. Simpson plays UW-Platteville on Dec. 28 at 3:30 p.m. and UW-Oshkosh on Dec. 29 at 1:30 p.m.