WBB Preview: Simpson hosts Nebraska Wesleyan on Wednesday

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- As the American Rivers Conference regular season nears an end, Simpson focuses on returning to the win column against Nebraska Wesleyan on Wednesday at home.

The Storm (16-7, 8-6 A-R-C) lost their second-straight game on Saturday, falling 102-62 to nationally-ranked Wartburg on the road. The Prairie Wolves (7-15, 3-11 A-R-C) had the same fate and lost 82-75 at Central.

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 24
Nebraska Wesleyan (7-15, 3-11 A-R-C) at Simpson (16-7, 8-6 A-R-C)
Wednesday, Feb. 19 | 5:30 p.m.
Cowles Fieldhouse | Indianola, Iowa
Live Video | Live Stats

NEBRASKA WESLEYAN SERIES NOTES
The Storm and Prairie Wolves meet for the 20th time in a series that began in the 1983-84 campaign ... Simpson started the head-to-head series with 10-straight victories, and is looking to extend its current two-game winning streak over Nebraska Wesleyan ... the teams last met in early January for an American Rivers Conference regular season contest, with the Storm claiming a 103-55 victory on the road ... of Simpson's four losses to the Prairie Wolves, three games were separated by three points or less.

RECENT RESULTS
Jan. 8, 2020 — W, 103-55 (Lincoln)
Feb. 19, 2019 — W, 92-72 (Indianola)
Feb. 6, 2019 — L, 82-80 (Lincoln)
Jan. 9, 2019 — W, 84-58 (Indianola)
Jan. 27, 2018 — L, 85-84 (Indianola)

ABOUT THE PRAIRIE WOLVES
Nebraska Wesleyan and second-year head coach Sam Dixon are searching for a conference win ... the Prairie Wolves fell 82-75 to the Dutch for the team's fourth-straight loss in A-R-C play ... Nebraska Wesleyan started the conference slate hot with back-to-back wins over Buena Vista and Dubuque, but are 1-11 since the early triumphs ... the Prairie Wolves are led by senior Caitlin Navratil as she is scoring 23.7 ppg to pace the conference and is third in the nation in scoring ... as a unit, the squad is fourth in the conference in scoring (78.2) and ninth in scoring defense (86.6).

LAST TIME OUT
Simpson looked for the season sweep, but came up short, losing 102-62 to nationally-ranked Wartburg on the road ... the Storm kept the game close in the first half, going into intermission down 42-35 ... a 20-4 third quarter run helped the Knights balloon the lead after outscoring Simpson, 43-13, in the frame as Wartburg went into the final stanza with an 85-43 advantage ... Simpson shot a season-low 35.1% from the floor in the loss ... Cameron Kincaid led the Storm with 16 points and Kia Rasmussen followed, firing off four triples for 14 points.

A-R-C STANDINGS
Loras and Wartburg both lead the A-R-C with just two losses ... Luther ranks third with four losses while Coe is fourth and Simpson falls to fifth ... Central comes in at sixth at 6-9 then Nebraska Wesleyan and Dubuque are tied for seventh with three wins each, and Buena Vista rounds out the league standings.

STORM NOTES
• Simpson in the national rankings:

1st — 3-point shooting (38.9%)
4th — field goal percentage (46.7%)
6th — scoring offense (80.6 ppg)
11th — total points (1,854)
13th — 3-pointers made (213)
14th — 3-pointers made per game (9.3)
18th — free throw percentage (74.8%)
27th — steals (288)

•Storm in the national rankings:

Kia Rasmussen — first in 3-point percentage (50.0%)
Cassie Chubb — 11th in 3-point percentage (44.2%)
Claire Johnson — 25th in assists (112), 30th in assists per game (4.9)

• Simpson is second in the conference in field goal percentage at 46.7% and third in scoring offense by averaging 80.6 ppg.
• All five starters are averaging double figures for scoring with Kia Rasmussen at the top with 12.1 ppg. Cassie Chubb is second with 11.7 and Cameron Kincaid in third (11.4), followed by Cassie Nash (11.3), and Claire Johnson rounds out the starters at 10.4.
• Simpson snapped its winning streak of 11 games on Jan. 29 for its longest since winning 13 in a row during the 2012-13 season.
• 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
The Storm return to Cowles Fieldhouse on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Buena Vista for the last home game of the regular season.