Morrow leads Storm to 108-73 win at Nebraska Wesleyan

LINCOLN, Neb. — Noreen Morrow posted another double-double, Janey Botkins made six 3-pointers and the Simpson women's basketball team set a school record for most points in a half, dominating Nebraska Wesleyan 108-73 on Saturday.

Simpson raced out to a big lead thanks to 66 points in the first half, the most in school history. Simpson shot nearly 66 percent from the field in the opening half, including 11-for-19 from beyond the arc. Simpson made 13 3s on the day.

Morrow finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Botkins had 19 points to lead the Storm (5-2, 2-0 Iowa Conference), who handed Nebraska Wesleyan its first loss of the season. Victoria Hazard added 11 points and five assists and Cameron Kincaid chipped in 12 points and seven boards off the bench.

A 6-2 senior center, Morrow went 9-for-11 from the field to post her fourth double-double of the young season.

Caitlin Navratil scored 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting to lead the Prairie Wolves (5-1, 0-1), who were outscoring opponents by an average of 31 points leading into the matchup. Nebraska Wesleyan was forced into a season-high 23 turnovers.

Key Moments
Simpson led 10-6 with 6:30 left in the first when Botkins made her first 3-pointer of the game, sparking an 11-0 run to give Simpson a 21-6 lead with 3:20 left in the opening quarter. Botkins made a pair of treys during the spurt.

The Storm held a comfortable 30-15 lead at the end of the first quarter, but put the game out of reach with a 14-0 run in the first 4 minutes of the second. Hazard and Morrow scored six points apiece during the run, which totaled 16-0 with a pair of free throws by Maddie Simmons to close the first quarter.

Key Players
Noreen Morrow — 21 points, 10 rebounds, 1 block, 3 steals
Janey Botkins — 19 points, 6-11 3FGs
Cameron Kincaid — 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
Victoria Hazard — 11 points, 5 assists, 3 steals
Kali Rasmussen — 9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3-5 3FGs
Ellen Gallagher — 4 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists
Maddie Simmons — 9 points

Game Notes
• Simpson improves to 12-2 all-time against Nebraska Wesleyan.
• The Storm are 2-0 to start Iowa Conference play for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
• The offensive effort gave Simpson its 34th 100-point game in school history.
• Simpson's 66 points in the first half topped the previous record of 64, set against Presentation on Nov. 24, 2007 and tied against Crown on Dec. 10, 2010.
• Simpson shot 55.2 percent from the field, the team's second game shooting 50 percent or better this season. The Storm shot 50 percent as a team twice in all of 2016-17.
• Botkins had her fourth career game with five 3-pointers or more. She was held without a 3 for the first time in nine games in the Storm's win over Buena Vista on Wednesday.
• Morrow posted her fourth double-double of the season and 19th of her career.

Up Next
Wednesday, Nov. 6, at Dubuque