Hedrick's heroics, Bosworth's career day lead Storm past Luther in OT thriller

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Maddie Bosworth scored a career-high 25 points, Brittany Hedrick banked in the game-tying 3-pointer as time expired in regulation and Simpson beat No. 24 Luther 88-81 in overtime Wednesday night at Cowles Fieldhouse.

Britney Boland had 11 points and eight rebounds and Whitney Van Wyk had 11 rebounds for the Storm (13-3, 3-2 Iowa Conference). Katie Ahrenholtz added 10 points, joining Bosworth in a dominating bench performance by Simpson.

Simpson's bench outscored Luther's 43-18.

Kylie Romeo scored 19 points and Moran Lonning had 18 and four assists for the Norse (14-2, 4-1), who saw an 11-game winning streak come to an end. Meagan Koepnick added 13 points.

Luther trailed 75-73 in the final minute before Lonning knocked down the go-ahead 3. After a missed layup on Simpson's next possession, Koepnick hit a pair of free throws to give Luther a 78-75 lead with 12.8 seconds left.

Simpson's final possession didn't look pretty. After Boland had a tough time handling Hedrick's pass at the top of the key, she got the ball back to Hedrick with less than 2 seconds left. Needing to get a shot off, Hedrick took a leaning 3 that she banked in, sending the crowd into a frenzy and giving Simpson an extra five minutes.

Bosworth – who shined in the first half – made the go-ahead layup with 1:11 left in overtime and hit a pair of free throws to ice it with 25 seconds left.

Just three games back from an injury that caused her to miss four games, Bosworth showed no signs of rust Wednesday. Coming into the game averaging just four points per game, the junior took over the game with dribble penetration and a deadly step-back jumper. She finished 10-for-13 from the field and set a new career high with 15 points in the first half alone.

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NOTES

A tight game throughout, neither team led by more than seven in a contest that saw 14 ties and 21 lead changes ... Simpson and Luther are no strangers to overtime games. The last meeting between the two teams went to overtime, with Luther beating Simpson 89-86 in Decorah on Feb. 1, 2014 … Simpson has now won 10 of 11 against the Norse … Simpson improved to 4-0 at home this season and has won 9 of its last 10 regular season games at Cowles Fieldhouse … Bosworth became the seventh different player to lead the Storm in scoring this season.

UP NEXT

Simpson goes to Dubuque on Saturday, Jan. 24. The Spartans (10-6, 4-1) beat Loras 57-54 on Wednesday.