No. 6 Storm edged by Blugolds

LA CROSSE, Wis. -- The No. 6 Simpson College women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season on Friday night as Wisconsin-Eau Claire scored a layup with just seven seconds left to edge the Storm 72-70 on the first day of the Gundersen Hotel & Suites Thanksgiving Classic.

After a Jenna Taylor layup gave Simpson (3-1) it's largest lead of the game at 54-43 in the third, Eau Claire (5-0) went on a 21-6 run to claim a 64-60 advantage with 5:49 left in the contest. The two teams traded six points each before Taylor and Cassie Nash scored on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at 70-all.

A shot-clock violation by Eau Claire gave the Storm possession with 0:40 left on the clock, but a costly turnover put the ball back in the Blugold's hands just 13 seconds later. The Blugolds ran the clock down 20 seconds before Tyra Boettcher converted the go-ahead score with a layup. With just seven ticks left on the clock, Simpson was unable to overcome the deficit.

Taylor scored 16 of her 27 points in the first half that saw Simpson take a 40-32 lead into the locker room. She helped the Storm capture a 17-9 lead with eight early points and later halted a 12-0 spurt by the Blugolds with a triple that put the Storm back on top, 31-29. Simpson outscored Eau Claire 9-3 to end the half.

Along with Taylor, Cameron Kincaid (11) and Kia Rasmussen (10) hit the double-digit mark in scoring. Taylor finished one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards and Rasmussen led the team with six assists. Nash registered four of Simpson's eight steals.

Up Next
Simpson returns to action tomorrow against Wisconsin-La Crosse. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.