Hot start, suffocating defense leads to rivalry win on Senior Day

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Cassie Nash registered a double-double of 20 points and 14 assists, Molly Lutmer scored 16 points off the bench, and the Simpson College women's basketball team used a fast start and suffocating defense in the first half to earn a 80-65 rivalry win over Central on Senior Day.

With the victory and a Luther win over Dubuque, Simpson clinched the No. 3 seed in the upcoming American Rivers Conference Tournament. The Storm will host No. 6 seed Dubuque inside Cowles Fieldhouse on Tuesday evening. Start time is set for 7 p.m.

The Storm (15-10, 10-6 A-R-C) came out of the gates on fire, scoring the first eight points of the game and building a 15-5 advantage through seven minutes. The lead grew to 26 at the break as the Storm went on a 15-2 run over the final three minutes of the half. During that span, Nash scored eight points and had five steals and Morgan Pietig knocked down her second triple of the game.

Central cut the deficit down to 20 early in the third, but Haley Rasmussen scored seven straight points and another Pietig triple followed by a three-point play from Nash gave Simpson its largest lead at 64-35 with just under 15 minutes to play. The Dutch would outscore the hosts 30-16 from there, but the big first-half cushion allowed the Storm to collect their 43rd straight victory over Central.

Nash stuffed her stat line with 20 points, 14 assists, six steals, four rebounds and one block. Her 14 assists set a new program record for assists in a game, while her six steals tie Dana Johnson's single season record of 91 takeaways set during the 2005-06 campaign.

Lutmer came off the bench to score 16 points on 4 of 6 shooting from long range and Rasmussen finished the game with 14 points. Pietig and Anna Wanek each contributed nine points while combining for 10 rebounds and three steals.

Simpson shot 60.0 percent from the field in the first half and 49.2 percent overall. The Storm forced 21 turnovers, their fifth consecutive game with 20+ and 17th this season.

Up Next
Simpson begins its A-R-C Tournament run with a home game against Dubuque beginning at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The Spartans finished the regular season with a 13-12 overall record and 7-9 mark in conference play.