Nash, Taylor lead No. 5/6 Storm in win at Buena Vista

STORM LAKE, Iowa – Cassie Nash scored a season-high 27 points while shooting 75.0 percent from the floor, Jenna Taylor recorded her fifth double-double of the season, and the No. 5/6 Simpson College women's basketball team rolled past Buena Vista in an 89-55 conference contest.

Simpson extends its win streak to 17 games while improving to 20-1 overall and 12-0 in the American Rivers Conference, the most league victories since tallying 13 during the 2012-13 season.

The Storm took a double-digit lead after one as a step-back three from Kia Rasmussen gave the visitors a 22-12 advantage. The Storm then widened the gap to 23 points with a 17-4 run in the first five minutes of the second quarter. After some back-and-forth action, a jumper from Taylor pushed Simpson over the 50-point threshold before half for the ninth time this season.

Taylor and Regan Freland worked together to score the Storm's first 10 points of the third quarter before Nash, who went into the locker room with 15 first-half points, closed out the frame with the remaining 10. The Beavers (5-9, 7-13 A-R-C) cut the lead to 24 to start the fourth, but the Storm shut the door with a 9-0 response highlighted by Taylor's 200th triple in Simpson uniform. Haley Rasmussen gave the visitors their largest lead of the night, 87-50, with 2:02 left.

Nash made a career-high 12 field goals for 27 points to lead the Storm while also adding six rebounds, two steals and a block. Taylor scored four or more in each frame to end with 19 points and had 12 rebounds, bringing her career total to 701 which surpasses Katelyn Whiton (2004-08) to rank fourth all-time.

Anna Wanek filled her line with 11 points, a career-high six assists, three rebounds, and two takeaways, Cameron Kincaid had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists, and Freland added eight points, four boards and two steals. K. Rasmussen tallied her 10th game of the season with five or more assists, and Hattie Rhodes logged six rebounds.

Simpson ended the game with a 45.2 percent shooting clip from the floor and scored 31 points off the Beaver's 22 turnovers. The Storm had a 21-1 advantage in fast break points and scored 12 more than Buena Vista in the paint.

Up Next
Simpson hosts Dubuque for Senior Day on Feb. 12 at 2 p.m.