WBB Preview: Storm face Nebraska Wesleyan in A-R-C Tournament

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Postseason play opens up for the third-seeded Simpson women's basketball team on Tuesday as sixth-seeded Nebraska Wesleyan visits for the first round of the American Rivers Conference Tournament.

The Storm (19-6, 11-5) enter as the third seed and won 82-80 on Saturday at Coe to close out the regular season. The Prairie Wolves (12-13, 7-9) lost 70-58 to Luther on Saturday and are the sixth seed in this year's A-R-C Tournament.

The game will be video streamed live on SimpsonAthletics.com, where Bryan Geelan will have the call. Andrew Swadner and Rick Wilson will have the call for the audio stream on KNIAKRLS.com. Fans can also access the video stream via the American Rivers application on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.

GAME 26
No. 6 Nebraska Wesleyan (12-13, 7-9) at No. 3 Simpson (19-6, 11-5)
Tuesday, Feb. 19 | 6 p.m.
Cowles Fieldhouse | Indianola, Iowa
Live Video | Live Stats

AMERICAN RIVERS CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
First Round — Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019
No. 6 Nebraska Wesleyan at No. 3 Simpson — 6 p.m.
No. 5 Coe at No. 4 Luther

Semifinals — Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019
Luther/Coe winner at No. 1 Wartburt
Simpson/Nebraska Wesleyan winner at No.2 Loras

Finals — Saturday, Feb. 23
Semifinal winners at Highest Remaining Seed

SIMPSON IN THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
As the team enters postseason play, the Storm are 8-3 overall in the opening round and 24-3 at home with an overall mark of 27-11 … This will be first meeting between the teams in tournament play ... The Storm enter tournament as the third seed, their highest ranking since the 2013 season as the top seed ... Simpson has not won a conference tournament title since that year.

NEBRASKA WESLEYAN SERIES NOTES
This is the 18th meeting all-time between the two teams … Simpson owns a 13-4 record over the Prairie Wolves, but have split the last eight contests … the Storm won 84-58 in the early season matchup, but Nebraska Wesleyan prevailed 82-80 in a overtime showdown earlier in the month to even the season series.

RECENT RESULTS
Feb. 6, 2019 — L, 82-80, OT (Lincoln)
Jan. 9, 2019 — W, 84-58, OT (Indianola)
Jan. 27, 2018 — L, 85-84 (Indianola)
Dec. 2, 2017 — W,108-73 (Lincoln)

ABOUT THE PRAIRIE WOLVES
Since Nebraska Wesleyan defeated Simpson on Feb. 6, the team has lost three games in a row … second-year head coach Sam Dixon had led the team to the sixth seed in the A-R-C Tournament by claiming seven wins in league play … the Prairie Wolves pace the league in turnover margin at 5.36 per game … Caitlin Navratil is first in the conference in scoring per game at 20.0 and is one point away from reaching 500 points on the season.

LAST TIME OUT
Cameron Kincaid scored the game-winning basket for the Storm as time expired … Kincaid took a pass from Jenna Taylor and was able to bury the shot with a couple seconds remaining to sneak away the victory in Cedar Rapids, Iowa … Taylor paced the team with 28 points and seven rebounds.

STORM NOTES

• Simpson has made 266 3-pointers through 25 games and surpassed the school record of 216 set during the 2011-12 season.
• Simpson's 20 3-pointers against Dubuque on Jan. 5 are the second-most by a team in Division III this season. Westminster (Mo.) surpassed the Storm's mark with 21 treys against MacMurray on Jan. 16.
• The Storm rank third in Division III with 266 3-pointers made, rank third with 10.5 3-pointers per game and rank seventh in 3-point percentage (38.0).
• The squad has been far from selfish on offense for the year and ranks seventh in the country with 429 assists. The Storm have dished more than 20 assists in eight games this season. Claire Johnson is second in the conference with 110 helpers.
• Jenna Taylor currently sits in fourth in Division III by shooting 47.1 percent from behind the arc.
• Simpson also boasts one of the best total offenses in the nation, averaging 80.0 ppg, ninth in Division III and first in the conference and are fourth in the country with 1.921 total points scored.
• Janey Botkins captured third all-time in career 3-pointers made. Botkins now has 168 career makes, which passed Morgan Mauro, who made 163 between 2012-16.
• At the charity stripe, the team is averaging 11.4 makes per game on 14.9 attempts to lead the conference with a 76.3 free throw percentage.
• Simpson has now made 30-or-more shots in two straight-games, breaking a slump of three-consecutive games on not reaching the feat.
• Cameron Kincaid leads the American Rivers Conference and ranks fifth in Division III in free throw percentage (89.2).
• The overtime loss at Nebraska Wesleyan was the team's first overtime defeat since Dec. 29, 2016. The Storm fell 77-69 against Puget Sound.

UP NEXT
Winner will play at Loras on Thursday in the semifinals of the A-R-C Tournament.