Storm grab fourth straight win after 88-60 triumph

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Madie Bacon scored a career-high 17 points to lead the Simpson women's basketball team to an 88-60 victory over New Paltz on Sunday in the opener of the Music City Classic in Nashville, Tenn. to extend its winning streak to four games.

Bacon powered her way to the career high on 6-of-9 shooting off the bench to help the Storm (8-3) secure the victory over the Hawks (5-2), which made it to the Sweet Sixteen in last year's NCAA Division III National Tournament.

Cassie Chubb and Cameron Kincaid each had 14 points and Cassie Nash contributed 13 points on only one miss from the floor. Jenna Taylor added four points for her first made baskets of the season.

Simpson's defense forced 29 turnovers that turned into 37 points on the other side of the court, while New Paltz scored 11 points off of Storm miscues. As a unit, Simpson shot 54.2% from the field and 47.6% from behind the arc and kept the Hawks below a 35% shooting clip for the game.

New Paltz owned an early 2-0 lead before Simpson exploded on a 9-0 spurt to take the advantage for good. The Storm ended the first period with a 30-22 tilt by shooting 66.7%.

In the second stanza, Simpson pushed the lead up to 14 points and held on to maintain the gap at halftime after Bacon drilled a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left on the clock. Nash scored nine points in the frame as the team went ahead 54-40 at the break.

The offense rattled off a 16-0 scoring spree in the third quarter to push the lead to 70-40. New Paltz finally stopped the scoring drought with a triple at the 3:03 mark. Simpson kept the 30-point edge into the fourth at 75-45 and grabbed its largest advantage of the game at 33 points at 80-47 after Taylor made a basket.

Notes
• In the team's four-game winning streak, the offense is averaging 86.0 points per game.
• From behind the arc, Simpson connected on 10 triples for its seventh time doing so this season.
• The Storm went 14-for-16 from the free throw line for their best percentage of the season at 87.5%.

Up Next
The Storm take on Washington and Lee (5-5) tomorrow at 7 p.m. (CT) to close out the Music City Classic.