Dubuque comeback stuns Storm

INDIANOLA, Iowa — Emily Brinker scored 26 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 9.5 seconds left, and Dubuque came back from 25 down to beat the Simpson women's basketball team 83-81 on Wednesday night.

Brinker scored 16 points in the second half for the Spartans (9-13, 5-8 Iowa Conference), who trailed by as many as 23 in third quarter and 14 in the fourth. 

Dubuque trailed 69-55 with 8:51 to play when a jumper by Abbey Meyer sparked a 10-0 run. Brinker scored four straight points from the free throw line and Morgan Boer made a layup with 1:24 left to give Dubuque its first lead, 78-77. 

Simpson looked like it would survive the scare when Megan Lankford responded with the go-ahead jumper -- her only field goal of the game -- and Noreen Morrow made two free throws to push the lead back to 81-78 with just 42 seconds left. 

Dubuque executed at the line, though, going 5-for-6 to close the game. Simpson committed turnovers on two of its final three possessions and Katie Ahrenholtz's potential game-winning 3 came up short on the final try. 

Morrow had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Storm (8-15, 5-9). Maddie Simmons finished with 17 and seven before fouling out with 5:27 to play in the fourth and Ellen Gallagher added 12 points and five boards off the bench.

Simpson played one of its best halves of the season in the first 20 minutes, knocking down seven 3-pointers and shooting better than 53 percent from the field while Dubuque shot just 9-for-29. The second half was a different story as the Storm went just 1-for-7 from downtown and committed 14 turnovers.

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Simpson travels to Central on Saturday, Feb. 11. The Dutch (9-13, 2-11) lost to Loras 80-51 on Wednesday.