Strong second quarter pushes Storm past Dubuque

DUBUQUE, Iowa -- The Simpson women's basketball team used a 23-4 scoring spree in the second quarter to run away with a 72-46 win at Dubuque on Saturday to keep the winning streak alive and sweep the season series with the Spartans.

The Storm (15-3, 7-2 A-R-C) have now won 11-straight contests to remain at the top of the American Rivers Conference standings. Dubuque (5-13, 1-8 A-R-C) falls for the fifth-straight time against Simpson.

After taking an 18-10 lead into the second stanza, the Storm shot 60% from the floor and 71.4% from deep to widen the margin and Kia Rasmussen netted 11 of her 16 points during the frame.

Dubuque scored three points in the first 25 seconds of the second and was held to just one more point until the half. The Storm made three triples in a row during a 21-0 spurt to go ahead 41-13. The Spartans claimed a free throw at the 2:15 mark to snap the scoreless drought and sent the game into intermission at 41-14.

Simpson cooled off some in the third by scoring 17 points on 40% shooting and allowed the Spartans to net 12 points to almost double their total of the first half. In the fourth, the Storm pushed the lead to 34 for their largest of the game and finished with six players that scored in the frame to secure the 26-point triumph.

Aside from Rasmussen's 16 points, Cassie Nash was the only other player to score in double figures with 10. Cassie Chubb scored eight points and Megan Todd added seven off the bench by going a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.

Of the 16 players that saw action for Simpson, 14 recorded a point and nine scored more than three points, compared to Dubuque's nine players that scored.

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Luther will face the Storm for the second time in 10 days on Wednesday in a 5:30 game inside Cowles Fieldhouse.