Storm’s late rally falls short at Loras

DUBUQUE, Iowa. -- The third-seeded Simpson women's basketball team ignited for a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to take a slim lead, but ultimately fell 88-83 to second-seeded Loras in the American Rivers Conference Tournament on Thursday.

The Storm (20-7) were down by nine going into the last period after Cameron Kincaid scored with a second left in the third. Jenna Taylor drained a 3-pointer in the opening 10 seconds of the fourth to trim the deficit, and Rachel Freland scored on a layup and connected on a triple to follow. Claire Johnson tallied a layup to give Simpson a one-point lead at 61-60 and capped off the 12-point run.

The Duhawks () put a stop to the surge with a trey and went back on top, before Simpson tied it again. Both teams would tie each other on the next six possessions. The teams both tallied two 3-pointers during that spurt and Taylor went back-to-back behind the arc to keep the game tied.

Loras stretched the lead to seven after holding Simpson scoreless for over two and a half minutes and used its cushion to hold on for the victory.

Nearly three minutes ticked off the clock before the Storm scored in the contest, but managed to claim a small 8-7 advantage in the first quarter, but would not go back on top again until the second at 26-25. Loras went on a 10-0 run to pull away after Simpson went ahead.

Both teams nearly shot equal during the game, with Storm shooting 47.8 percent and the Duhawks hit 48.3 percent of their shots. Behind the arc, Simpson made 11 of its attempts and held Loras to nine. The Storm showcased its uptempo offense by holding a 19-5 scoring advantage on fastbreaks.

Simpson finished with five players that scored in double figures and Taylor led the squad with 27 points. Freland had 14, Kincaid tallied 13 and Johnson ended with 10. Cassie Chubb came off the bench to score 11.

Marissa Schroeder finished with 28 points and Riley Eckhart earned 20 for Loras. 

GAME NOTES

The Storm have connected on 10-or-more triples in five consecutive games. Taylor has tallied 20-or-more points in four of five contests.

UP NEXT

Simpson ends its season with the loss to Loras. The team will return six of its seven top-scorers and graduate Madi Paulson, Kia Rasmussen and Freland.