Johnson nets 28 to lift Storm past Luther

DECORAH, Iowa -- The winning streak continues for the Simpson women's basketball team as the Storm scored a 90-66 win at Luther on Saturday behind a career-high 28 points from Claire Johnson.

Simpson (13-3, 5-2 A-R-C) pushed its winning streak to nine games and is now in a three-way tie for third place in the American Rivers Conference standings with the Norse (7-7, 5-2 A-R-C) and Coe.

Johnson notched the career high on 10 of 14 shooting and went 3-for-5 from 3. Cassie Chubb scored 14 points with four makes from deep, Cassie Nash scored 13, and Cameron Kincaid and Jenna Taylor each poured in 12 to round out the double-digit efforts.

The Storm were hitting on all cylinders during the contest to shoot 54% as a unit and 50% from downtown. Simpson also held a 38-22 advantage on the glass and forced Luther to commit 24 turnovers in a well-rounded effort.

Over the first 2:34 of play, the Storm charged out to a 9-2 tilt after four points by Johnson. The lead extended to 15-5, but the Norse trimmed the deficit with a triple. Taylor scored a basket to place the game at 17-8 to end the first.

In the second stanza, the offense issued a 13-1 spurt to widen the gap and take control of the conference bout. Chubb put an exclamation point on the first half with a last-second triple to put the game in favor of Simpson at 41-20 at the break.

After the Storm extended the lead to 67-44 at the end of the third, Luther rattled off a 16-4 run to bring the game to 11 at 71-60 during the start of the fourth. Simpson's defense held firm to only allow the Norse to score six points over the last 5:34 of the game, while the offense went on an 11-0 run to end the game with three-straight triples.

Notes
• This is Johnson's third time in her career scoring over 20 points in a game and second time this season doing so.
• During the current winning streak, the Storm are winning by an average 25.1 points, with their lowest margin of victory coming at seven points against Millikin, 76-69.
• Simpson last had a nine-game winning streak during the 2014-15 campaign. All nine victories were against nonconference opponents.

Up Next
After a two-game break from home, the Storm return to Cowles Fieldhouse on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. game against Wartburg.