WBB Preview: Cowles Fieldhouse hosts pair of top A-R-C teams

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- The Simpson women's basketball team looks to move closer to the D3hoops.com Top 25 rankings on Wednesday when Luther visits for a 5:30 p.m. showdown.

The Storm (15-3, 7-2 A-R-C) are receiving votes in the poll after securing a 72-46 victory at Dubuque on Saturday. The Norse (9-7, 7-2 A-R-C) grabbed a 76-66 triumph to give Loras its second loss of the season to remain in the hunt for an American Rivers Conference title.

The game will be video streamed live on SimpsonAthletics.com as Bryan Geelan has the call as pregame begins at 5:20 p.m. Fans can also access the video stream via the American Rivers application on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.

GAME 19
Luther (9-7, 7-2 A-R-C) at Simpson (15-3, 7-2 A-R-C)
Wednesday, Jan. 29 | 5:30 p.m.
Cowles Fieldhouse | Indianola, Iowa
Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio

LISTEN TO THE STORM
The team of Andrew Swadner and Rick Wilson will have the call on 94.3 FM and 1320 AM or online at kniakrls.com. Fans can also download the KNIA app, available on iTunes and Google Play. Pregame coverage begins at 5:15 p.m.

LUTHER SERIES NOTES
The Storm and Norse conclude the season series on Wednesday as Simpson looks for the season sweep ... the Storm won 90-66 in Decorah on Jan. 19 after the game was pushed to Sunday after a snowy start to the weekend ... Claire Johnson scored a career-high 28 points on 10 of 14 shooting while five players finished in double figures ... with the victory, Simpson has won three straight over Luther after losing the previous two outings.

RECENT RESULTS
Jan. 19, 2020 — W, 90-66 (Decorah)
Feb. 4, 2019 — W, 65-55 (Indianola)
Dec. 3, 2018 — W, 81-64 (Decorah)
Feb. 22, 2018 — L, 84-61 (Decorah)
Jan. 31, 2018 — L, 76-55 (Decorah)

ABOUT THE NORSE
Luther and ninth-year head coach Amanda Bailey have won two-straight contests after losing the previous two ... the Norse started the season with five-straight defeats before unleashing seven-straight victories to stay at the top of the conference standings ... the offense has three players averaging above 10 points per outing as the team is fourth in the league in scoring at 73.4 ... Sarah Holtz is third in the conference by averaging 16.3 ppg.

LAST TIME OUT
The game sat at 18-10 after the first quarter when the Storm went off on a 23-4 run to cruise to a 72-46 victory at Dubuque on Saturday ... Simpson shot 60% in the second and held the Spartans to 8.3% on just one make from the floor during the stanza ... Kia Rasmussen ended with 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting with four triples for her 13th double figure performance this season.

A-R-C STANDINGS
Currently four teams in the American Rivers Conference are tied with a 7-2 record to lead the league ... Loras, Luther, Simpson and Wartburg all carry the top marks, while the Storm and Norse compete on Wednesday to knock a team out of first ... of the four teams in front, the No. 10 Knights and No. 12 Duhawks are ranked in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, while Simpson is receiving votes ... Coe is in fifth at 6-3 for the last team to be above .500 in league play.

STORM NOTES
• Simpson in the national rankings:

1st — 3-point shooting (41.3%)
2nd — field goal percentage (48.2%)
3rd — total points (1,487)
4th — scoring offense (82.6 ppg)
8th — 3-pointers made (173)
9th — 3-pointers made per game (9.6)
10th — assists (316)
13th — assists per game (17.6)
21st — free throw percentage (74.9%)
20th — steals (232)

• Storm in the national rankings:

Kia Rasmussen — second in 3-point percentage (55.1%)
Cassie Chubb — seventh in 3-pointers made (54), eighth in 3-point percentage (46.2%), 13th in 3-pointers made per game (3.0)
Cameron Kincaid — 19th in free throw percentage (86.5%)
Claire Johnson — 22nd in assists (88), 30th in assists per game (4.9)

• Simpson is second in the conference in scoring at 82.6 ppg and third in scoring defense by allowing 63.7 ppg to move up a spot from last week.
• All five starters are averaging double figures for scoring with Cassie Chubb at the top with 13.6 ppg. Kia Rasmussen is second at 11.5, followed by Cameron Kincaid (11.3), Cassie Nash (11.2) and Claire Johnson rounds out the starters at 10.6.
• Simpson's current winning streak of 11 games is the longest since the 2012-13 squad won 13th-straight contests. That team finished the year 27-3 and started the year on a nine-game winning clip and ended the campaign in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
• Head coach Brian Niemuth earned his 600th career victory on Dec. 21 in a 76-69 victory over Millikin. Niemuth became the ninth active women's basketball head coach in the NCAA Division III to hit the 600-win plateau.

UP NEXT
Simpson opens February with a tough road matchup at Loras on Saturday in hopes of remaining at the top of the league standings. The Duhawks won 85-80 on Dec. 7 in the first meeting this season.