Valiant comeback falls short as Storm lose to Coe

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Behind a season-high 20 points and five 3-pointers from Brittany Hedrick, the Simpson women's basketball team erased a 14-point deficit to take a lead with less than 5 minutes to play.

The comeback wasn't enough, though, as Mickey Hansche scored 13 points down the stretch to help Coe hold on for a 75-69 win in the Iowa Conference opener on Wednesday.

After struggling from the field in the first half, Simpson came out firing on all cylinders in the second. MacKenzie Haupt sparked a 17-2 run, which included 3s by Hedrick, Whitney Van Wyk, Britney Boland and Morgan Mauro. Mauro's 3 gave Simpson a 43-42 lead with 12:36 to play.

Coe re-took the lead before another 3 by Mauro gave Simpson a 62-59 lead with 4:40 left. From there it was all Hansche, who hit a 3 and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line, scoring 13 points in the final 3:09.

Haupt added 16 points and Boland had seven and six rebounds for the Storm (10-2, 0-1), who saw their nine-game winning streak come to a close.

Courteney McCrary had 20 points off the bench and went 4-for-4 from 3-point range to lead the Kohawks (8-4, 1-0). Hansche finished with 15.

Up Next: Simpson hosts Buena Vista in a 2 p.m. tip at Cowles Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 10. The Beavers (5-7, 0-1) lost to defending conference champion Loras 83-73 on Wednesday.