Simpson closes out regular season against Loras, Coe

The Simpson women's basketball team travels to Loras on Wednesday, Feb. 14 and hosts Coe in Indianola for Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 17. Wednesday's tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and Saturday's game gets underway at 2 p.m.

Todd Guessford will have the call for Saturday's video stream on SimpsonAthletics.com. Pre-game begins at 1:45. Andrew Swadner and Rick Wilson will describe the action on KNIA 1320 AM/95.3 FM and online at KNIAKRLS.com on Saturday.

The Storm (13-10, 7-7) hopped back on the winning side after defeating Central 86-58 at home last Wednesday, Feb. 7. Noreen Morrow, Claire Johnson, Victoria Hazard and Janey Botkins all scored 11 points apiece in the win.

The Duhawks (14-9, 6-8) went 1-1 last week defeating Nebraska Wesleyan 74-58 in Lincoln, Neb. on Wednesday and falling 69-58 to Buena Vista at home on Saturday. The Kohawks (13-10, 10-4) played just once last week, beating Dubuque 87-72 in Cedar Rapids on Saturday.

THIS WEEK

Game #24: at Loras (14-9, 6-8)
Wednesday, Feb. 14 — 6 p.m.
Lillis Court — Dubuque, Iowa
Live Video | Live Stats

Game #25: vs Coe (13-10, 10-4)
Saturday, Feb. 17 — 2 p.m.
Cowles Fieldhouse — Indianola, Iowa
Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

1 — Sharpshooters: The Storm are among the best in Division III in field goal percentage, ranking eighth (45.8). Individually, Noreen Morrow is 10th in the nation with a 57.6 shooting percentage while teammate Janey Botkins ranks fifth in 3-point shooting percentage (46.0).

2 — Returning to the Tournament: Simpson clinched a spot in the Iowa Conference Tournament with Wednesday's win over Central. Simpson is back in the tournament after missing the cut for the first time ever in 2016-17. Simpson is 26-10 since the tournament was first contested in 2000 and has won the championship seven times (2000, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013).

3 — Distribution Duo: Victoria Hazard and Claire Johnson have handed out 80-or-more assists each this season, reaching 82 and 80 assists, respectively. This marks the first time since Darrina Bledsoe (88) and Kelsie Reeves (82) in 2010-11 that two players have handed out at least 80 assists.

4 — Reaching 100: Just a sophomore, Janey Botkins surpassed 100 career 3-pointers during last week's win against Central. After going 3-for-4 against the Dutch, she climbed to 102 career 3s, becoming just the fifth player in school history to reach the career mark.

5 — Morrow's Place in History: Senior Noreen Morrow's 11-point, seven-rebound game effort against Central last week raised her up in Simpson's career leaderboards. Morrow moved to 11th in school history with 1,066 points, ahead of Michelle Mackie (1,059 from 1988-92), and passed Ashley Katch (571 from 2005-08) in career rebounds with 576 now ranking seventh in school history.

SERIES NOTES

Loras — Simpson and Loras meet for the 71st time in a series that dates back to the 1986-87 season … Simpson leads the all-time series 46-24 … the Storm beat Loras 80-72 on Jan. 6, snapping a three-game losing streak … Simpson is 16-15 at Lillis Court against the Duhawks.

Coe — Simpson and Coe meet for the 55th time in a series that dates back to the 1977-78 season … Simpson leads the all-time series 43-12 … the Storm fell to the Kohawks 71-56 on Jan. 10 … Simpson is 20-5 in Cowles Fieldhouse against the Kohawks.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

Loras — The Duhawks and 11th-year head coach Justin Heinzen are 14-9 overall on the season and claimed the sixth spot in the IIAC tournament … Loras is the second-best conference team in free throw percentage scoring 75.0 percent from the charity line … the Duhawks score an average 69.7 points (fifth in the conference) but only allow 65.9 from their opponents (third in the conference) … 6-1 freshman Marissa Schroeder scores 12.1 ppg leading the Duhawks along with senior guard Addie Oberman … Schroeder averages 6.1 rpg, second best on the team behind Cyerra Hutchins (7.8).

Coe — The Kohawks and first-year head coach Kayla Waskow are 13-10 overall and are sitting in third place in the conference standings … Coe records 68.3 ppg (7th in the conference) but is second in the conference only giving up 65.0 … the Kohawks stand on top of the conference in free throw percentage (79.7) and are third in field goal percentage (42.6) … 5-10 guard Jenna Lehman is a go-to teammate averaging 18.1 ppg, ranking third in the conference with 51.5% from the court … Lehman has the highest free throw percentage (91.3) in the IIAC.