Storm blow by Nebraska Wesleyan behind 25 from Taylor

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Jenna Taylor scored 25 points, Janey Botkins made five 3-pointers and the Simpson women's basketball team recovered from a slow start to beat Nebraska Wesleyan 84-58 on Wednesday.

Rachel Freland added 12 points for the Storm (12-3, 4-2 American Rivers), who won their second game in a row to keep pace in the conference race. Simpson is 1/2 game out of first place, behind Wartburg, Loras and Luther.

Simpson trailed 20-18 at the end of the first quarter before mounting a 17-1 run in the first 5 minutes of the second. A 3-pointer by Freland with 8:21 left gave Simpson a 23-21 lead, sparking a run of 15 unanswered points. After Taylor's layup ended the rally and made it 35-21, the margin didn't dip below 11 the rest of the way.

Conference scoring leader Caitlin Navratil finished with 18 points and six rebounds for the Prairie Wolves (8-6, 3-2), who dropped their second league game in a row.

Botkins scored 16 points and provided half of the team's 10 3-pointers, the fifth-straight game the Storm have made at least 10 from beyond the arc.

After a relatively quiet first half, Taylor scored 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting in the final 20 minutes. She went on her own 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter, which included back-to-back and-ones.

GAME NOTES

The Storm shot 51.6 percent from the field, the sixth time this season they've surpassed 50 percent shooting … Simpson is 6-0 when shooting above 50 percent … Taylor scored in double figures for the 18th consecutive game … Simpson held a 49-31 advantage on the glass, its largest margin of the season … Claire Johnson filled the stat sheet with six points, six rebounds and five assists.

UP NEXT

Simpson has the weekend off before returning to action Wednesday, Jan. 16 at Central. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. in Pella.