Big first half propels No. 5/6 Storm to A-R-C Championship

INDIANOLA, Iowa – The Simpson College women's basketball team got off to a fast start and never looked back, cruising to a 106-75 win over Luther in the semifinal round of the American Rivers Conference Tournament.

The Storm (24-1) came out of the gates on fire, scoring the first 18 points of the game with 66.7 percent shooting from the floor and 4 of 6 shooting from downtown. Jenna Taylor and Kia Rasmussen each had a pair of triples to lead Simpson offensively during the stretch, while the defense kept the Norse (10-17) off the scoreboard for the first 5:05 of the game. Taylor added another three to give the home team its first 20-point lead of the night, and Simpson led 30-16 at the conclusion of one period.

As if an 18-0 run to open the game wasn't enough, Simpson orchestrated a 23-0 scoring spree over the course of three and a half minutes in the second to build a lead of 35 at the break. The Storm did not miss a shot during that span, going 8-for-8 from the floor and 2-for-2 at the line to cap off a first half that saw the hosts make 66.7 percent of their shots both from the floor and from deep. Regan Freland knocked down all three of her trifectas and made two free throws to pace the home team with 13 points in the second quarter.

Simpson led by as many as 39 in the third quarter as Taylor started the half with her fifth triple of the night, which pushed her career scoring total over 1,600 points to rank third all-time. She finished the night with 27 points and just one missed field goal in 12 attempts for a blistering 91.6 percent shooting clip.

Along with Taylor, Freland reached the 20-point plateau thanks to 6 of 13 shooting from the floor and five free throws. Cassie Nash had 15 points to go with seven assists, five rebounds and four steals, and Anna Wanek contributed 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Cameron Kincaid scored 12 all in the first half, and K. Rasmussen did some of everything with nine points, five assists, three rebounds, three steals and a block. Hattie Rhodes tied Nash for a team-high seven assists and Wanek for a team-best six rebounds.

Both teams shot at least 50.0 percent from the floor as Simpson made 42 of 77 field goals and Luther connected on 31 of 62. The Storm sank 10 threes in the first half and finished the game shooting 44.4 percent from deep, while the Norse were held to 34.8 percent shooting (8-23) from behind the arc. Simpson was 10-for-11 at the stripe and Luther was 5-for-8.

For the second time this season, Simpson set a new program record for points scored in a half. The Storm put up 67 in the first 20 minutes of their game at Dubuque, and topped that tonight with 69 points against the Norse.

This is the first time Simpson has posted consecutive 100-point wins since the 1997-98 season when the Storm defeated Loras 100-63 and Coe 107-67 in back-to-back games.

Up Next
Simpson will host No. 2-seed Wartburg for the A-R-C Championship game on Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Cowles Fieldhouse. The Knights are ranked No. 18 by D3hoops.com. The winner of the title game will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Tournament.