WBB Preview: Central visits for A-R-C Tournament Semifinals

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- The No. 7 Simpson College women's basketball team aims for its 40th win in a row over Central on Thursday as the squads meet in the American Rivers Conference Tournament Semifinals at 7 p.m inside Cowles Fieldhouse.

The Storm (10-0) cruised to a 94-58 triumph over Luther last night in the quarterfinals. The Dutch (6-3) won 57-48 over Dubuque to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2001.

Todd Guessford and Ethan Humble will be on the call as the game will be streamed live through SimpsonAthletics.com. Pregame will begin at 6:45 p.m.

GAME 11
Central (6-3, 5-3 A-R-C) at No. 7 Simpson (10-0, 8-0 A-R-C)
Thursday, March 11 | 7 p.m.
Cowles Fieldhouse | Indianola, Iowa
Live Video | Live Stats | Radio (KNIA)

SIMPSON ATTENDANCE POLICY
The general public, faculty and staff are still not permitted to watch contests in-person, while student-athletes and coaches from both teams will be permitted two spectators that can attend, in addition to the 25 students. All spectators will be required to wear a mask and maintain a distance of six feet from others.

Click HERE for the full release from Simpson Athletics.

AMERICAN RIVERS CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
The A-R-C Tournament is set for the semifinal round on Thursday ... alongside the Simpson and Central contest, Coe hosts Loras in a battle of the second and third seeds ... the Kohawks grabbed a 73-52 triumph over Buena Vista last night and the Duhawks clipped Wartburg, 71-63, to advance ... the winners of both contests will meet Saturday in the championship, hosted by the higher seed.

Click HERE for the A-R-C Tournament Homepage.

CENTRAL SERIES NOTES
The two foes meet for the 95th time on Thursday as Simpson owns a 64-30 advantage and have won 39-straight meetings in the series dating back to the 2002-03 campaign ... over the last 30 contests, only five games have been decided by less than 10 points and the Storm have won seven-straight by an average of 19.7 ... in the previous meeting this season, Simpson won 77-61 after shooting 33.8% from the floor with 11 triples ... Jenna Taylor had a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Cameron Kincaid added 17 points

RECENT RESULTS
Feb. 3, 2021 — W, 77-61 (Pella)
Feb. 8, 2020 — W, 95-63 (Pella)
Jan. 11, 2020 — W, 72-59 (Indianola)
Feb. 13, 2019 — W, 92-71 (Indianola)
Jan. 16, 2019 — W, 61-48 (Pella)

ABOUT THE DUTCH
Central collected its first conference tournament victory since 2001 last night in a 57-48 battle over Dubuque ... the Dutch are currently 6-3 overall after starting the year with three-straight victories to receive votes in the D3hoops.com Top-10 Poll for the first time in 20 seasons ... the offense is third in the league in scoring at 71.0 and third in points allowed at 63.6 ... Kelsea Hurley is sixth in the conference in scoring at 14.4 with seven double-digit efforts this year ... Carson Fisk is second with 12.4 points per game and Maci Gambell is third at 11.1.

LAST TIME OUT
Simpson suffered a first quarter deficit against Luther on Tuesday, but rattled off 43 points in the third quarter to win 95-58 to advance in the A-R-C Tournament ... the Norse grabbed a 20-15 advantage at the end of the first by shooting 40% and held the Storm to a 37.5% clip ... Simpson ended the first half with a 5-0 run to own a 33-32 tilt ... the third quarter started with a 26-7 scoring spurt to open the game wide open for the Storm to remain unbeaten ... Jenna Taylor finished with 30 points and eight rebounds to pace the squad.

STORM NOTES
• Simpson in the national rankings:

3rd — scoring offense (85.2) and 3-pointers made per game (10.5)
4th — free throw percentage (80.8%)
8th — assists per game (19.1)
10th — 3-point percentage (39.3%)
12th — field goal percentage (45.0%)

• Storm in the national rankings:

Cameron Kincaid — 10th in free throw percentage (97.3%)
Jenna Taylor — 12th in points per game (20.7), 18th in 3-point percentage (49.1%) and 21st in free throw percentage (87.5%)
Kia Rasmussen — 13th in assists per game (5.8) and 27th in steals per game (3.3)
Cassie Nash — 14th in assist to turnover ratio (3.0)

UP NEXT
Simpson or Central will advance to the tournament championship game on Saturday to take on the winner of the other semifinal contest.