Botkins fuels fourth-quarter rally, Storm beat Luther 78-73

INDIANOLA, Iowa — Janey Botkins scored 12 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead 3 in the final minutes, and the Simpson women's basketball team beat Luther 78-73 on Wednesday night to hand the Norse their first conference loss of the season.

Noreen Morrow scored 14 points, Ellen Gallagher had nine and seven rebounds and Claire Johnson had five assists for the Storm (9-4, 3-1 Iowa Conference), who snapped a five-game losing streak in the series.

Simpson trailed by six early in the fourth quarter before a Botkins 3 sparked a 7-0 run. She put Simpson ahead for good when she broke a 69-all tie with 2:29 left, hitting her third trey of the game. Luther pulled within 76-73 on a 3 by Laura Hamilton with 23 seconds left, but Botkins iced the game at the line with a pair of free throws.

The Storm outscored Luther 24-14 in the deciding fourth quarter.

Claire Marburger scored a game-high 22 points for the Norse (9-6, 3-1), who came into the game riding a four-game winning streak. The loss leaves second-ranked Wartburg as the only unbeaten team in Iowa Conference play.

Simpson got off to a slow start and trailed 11-2 after the first four minutes. A pair of free throws by Hazard sparked a 7-0 run early in the second quarter to get Simpson back in the game and the Storm trailed 40-36 at halftime.  

Key Players
Janey Botkins — 16 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Noreen Morrow — 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 2 steals
Victoria Hazard — 12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals
Ellen Gallagher — 9 points. 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal
Rachel Freland — 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist

Up Next
Saturday, Jan. 6 vs. Loras