Women's basketball begins play at Washington-St. Louis today

The Simpson women's basketball team begins play at the 15th Annual Washington University McWilliams Classic in St. Louis this evening. The Storm play Wisconsin Lutheran in the first round game at 5 p.m. and will play either host WashU or Rhodes on Saturday.

Saturday's consolation game begins at 5 p.m. with the championship set to start at 7.

Simpson goes into the weekend playing its best basketball of the season after winning both games of the 2015 Simpson Classic last weekend. The Storm (3-3) beat Iowa Wesleyan 60-53 on Friday, Nov. 27 and ran away from Grand View 84-67 on Saturday, Nov. 28. Senior point guard Maddie Bosworth posted double-doubles in both games en-route to MVP honors. She had 11 points and 10 assists against the Tigers and closed the weekend with 13 points and 11 rebounds against the Vikings. Simpson played its best game of the season against Grand View, setting season-highs in points (84), field goal percentage (49.2) and 3-point percentage (50.0). 

A look at the Storm: Bosworth leads the team with 12.2 ppg and ranks second in the IIAC with 4.5 apg. Mackenzie Haupt averages 11.7 ppg and leads the IIAC with 21 steals. First-year starter Noreen Morrow has been a force in the post, averaging 9 ppg and 5.3 rpg. She is shooting better than 53 percent from the field, tops on the team.

A look at Wisconsin Lutheran: The Warriors enter the weekend with a 4-1 overall record, winning four in a row after a season-opening loss at Northern Illinois. The marquee win of the season came on Nov. 21 when they knocked off No. 10 Calvin 86-80 at home. Caitlin Knueppel leads the team with 15.4 ppg, scoring 25 in the win over Calvin. Freshman Jen Dowden is among the nation's leaders in FT percentage, shooting 95 percent from the charity stripe. Simpson has never played Wisconsin Lutheran.

A look at Washington U.: The Bears enter the weekend with a 4-1 overall record and are ranked No. 11 in the first D3hoops.com regular-season poll, released Nov. 30. WashU has won three in a row, including a 47-41 win over No. 19 DePauw on Nov. 29. Amanda Martinez leads the team with 12.6 ppg, followed by Zoe Vernon's 9.4 ppg and 10 3s. Lily Sarros is a force in the post, averaging 8.8 ppg, a team-high 7.0 rpg and shooting nearly 55 percent from the field. Simpson has never played WashU.

A look at Rhodes: The Lynx enter the weekend with a 3-4 record following a 76-63 loss to Hendrix on Wednesday. Catherine Eckert leads the team with 14.1 ppg, but Symone Daniels and Bailey Kramer fill the stat sheet. Daniels averages 9.1 ppg and 7.0 rpg to go along with seven blocked shots while Kramer averages 9.1 ppg and 7.6 rpg to go along with nine steals. Simpson has never played Rhodes.