Simpson women fall to Coe in IIAC Championship

CEDAR RAPIDS - Kayla Waskow scored 19 points, Sarah Anciaux posted a double-double and Coe beat Simpson 59-56 in the championship game of the Iowa Conference Tournament on Saturday at Eby Fieldhouse.

The Kohawks (24-3) recovered from an early 11-point deficit in earning the Iowa Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships for the first time in school history.

Ali Sokol scored a season-high 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Storm (21-6), who saw their streak of IIAC Tournament Championships end at three. Stacey Schutjer scored nine of her 11 points in the second half and grabbed nine rebounds.

Simpson's NCAA Championship hopes now lie in the hands of the selection committee. Ranked fifth in the latest NCAA West Region rankings, the Storm will find out their fate Monday at 2 p.m. A link to the selection show will be available Monday morning.

Trailing by 10 with under three minutes to go, Simpson mounted a late rally behind Schutjer and Mindy Hutchcroft. Hutchcroft nailed a 3 with 1:16 remaining, making the score 56-52. Schutjer then cut the lead to two with 30 seconds left.

Three Coe free throws pushed the lead back to five before a Hutchcroft jumper from the corner made the score 59-56 with six seconds left. With a chance to ice the game, Waskow missed a pair of free throws and Schutjer appeared to bring down the rebound with five seconds left. But a quick jump ball call gave possession back to Coe, which ran the time out on the ensuing inbound.

Simpson started the game on a 16-5 run, which included a record-breaking shot by senior Amy Hamilton. Leading 2-0, Hamilton knocked down a 3 from the left wing - the 237th of her career - setting a school record. The old mark of 236 was set by Carlie Beals from 2004-08.

Coe responded to the early run with a 12-0 rally, holding Simpson scoreless over a 4 minute, 27 second stretch while taking a one-point lead at 17-16.