WBB Preview: Simpson preps for regular season finale

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- On Saturday, Simpson hopes to end the regular season on a high note against Buena Vista. Tipoff is at 2 p.m. as the Storm seniors will be honored after the contest.

Simpson (17-7, 9-6 A-R-C) routed Nebraska Wesleyan in a 109-84 contest on Wednesday to break a two-game losing skid. The Beavers (1-23, 0-15 A-R-C) failed to get their first conference win of the season Wednesday, falling 77-58 to Central.

The game will be video streamed live on SimpsonAthletics.com as Todd Guessford has the call as pregame begins at 1:45 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 25
Buena Vista (1-23, 0-15 A-R-C) at Simpson (17-7, 9-6 A-R-C)
Saturday, Feb. 22 | 2 p.m.
Cowles Fieldhouse | Indianola, Iowa
Live Video | Live Stats

BUENA VISTA SERIES NOTES
The Storm and Beavers meet for the 86th time in a series that began in 1976-77 ... Simpson owns a 53-32 mark over Buena Vista, but the Beavers have prevailed at home with a 20-19 record ... the Storm have had success as of late by winning four of the last five games after falling in back-to-back meetings in the series ... in the first matchup of the season, Simpson trounced Buena Vista with a 23-point victory on the road ... Jenna Taylor averaged 23.5 ppg against the Beavers in 2018-19.

RECENT RESULTS
Jan. 15, 2020 — W, 83-60 (Storm Lake)
Jan. 23, 2019 — W, 75-53 (Storm Lake)
Dec. 5, 2018 — W, 82-56 (Indianola)
Jan. 28, 2018 — L, 74-62 (Storm Lake)
Nov. 29, 2017 — W, 57-48 (Indianola)

ABOUT THE BEAVERS
Buena Vista and first-year head coach David Wells enter the game searching for its first conference win of the season and first league triumph since Feb. 9, 2019 ... the Beavers captured their only win of the season in a 65-64 overtime thriller at Nebraska Christian College on Nov. 19 ... the offense ranks last in the conference in scoring at 59.4 ppg, but is only allowing 77.8 ppg for seventh ... in league play, Buena Vista is being outscored by 21.3 points and has only lost by less than 10 points on two occasions against A-R-C foes ... Destiny Einerwood is currently third in the league in scoring at 15.4 ppg to pace the offense and Erin Gerke is the second Buena Vista player to average double figures at 12.3 ppg.

LAST TIME OUT
Simpson secured the season sweep over Nebraska Wesleyan in a 109-84 victory on Wednesday night ... the Storm allowed the Prairie Wolves to lead for just 25 seconds of the game ... the offense was well balanced, having six players in double figures and 48 points from the bench ... Simpson had its second-highest field goal percentage of the season, shooting 58.4% from the field ... Cameron Kincaid led the Storm with 19 points and Jenna Taylor followed, scoring all 18 of her points in the first half and off the bench.

A-R-C STANDINGS
Wartburg leads the A-R-C with just two losses, while Loras is right behind with three ... Luther ranks third with four blemishes while Coe is fourth and Simpson falls to fifth ... Central comes in at sixth at 7-9 then Nebraska Wesleyan and Dubuque are tied for seventh with three wins each, and Buena Vista rounds out the league standings.

SENIOR DAY
After Saturday's game is completed, the Storm will honor its six seniors: Madie Bacon, Cassie Chubb, Maddie Glascock, Claire Johnson, Allyson Simpson and Megan Todd ... the group holds a career record of 60-43 and has appeared in three-straight conference tournaments with two second round appearances.

STORM NOTES
• Simpson in the national rankings:

1st — 3-point shooting (39.2%),
3rd — field goal percentage (47.3%)
4th — scoring offense (81.8 ppg)
5th — total points (1,963)
10th — 3-pointers made (224)
13th — 3-pointers made per game (9.3)
15th — free throw percentage (75.1%)
22nd — assists (400)
24th — assists per game (16.7)
27th — steals (301)
28th — steals per game (12.5)

• Storm in the national rankings:

Kia Rasmussen — first in 3-point percentage (50.9%)
Cassie Chubb — 8th in 3-point percentage (45.2%)
Claire Johnson — 20th in assists (119), 27th in assists per game (5.0)

• Simpson is second in the conference in field goal percentage at 47.3% and third in scoring offense by averaging 81.8 ppg.
• All five starters are averaging double figures for scoring with Kia Rasmussen at the top with 12.0 ppg. Cassie Chubb is second with 11.9 and Cameron Kincaid in third (11.7), followed by Cassie Nash (11.3), and Claire Johnson rounds out the starters at 10.2.
• 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
On Tuesday, Simpson travels to Coe for the first round of the American Rivers Conference Tournament in a battle of the fourth and fifth-ranked teams. A start time has not been decided yet.