WAVERLY, Iowa - The fourth ranked Wartburg women's basketball team were upended for the first time in Levick Arena when No. 10 Simpson College came away with an 81-80 victory in double overtime to remain perfect on the season. Freshman forward Jaedon Murphy led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-11 from long range. 

Up next, the Orange & Black (12-2, 5-2 A-R-C) will conclude the regular season when they host Loras College (5-5, 3-4 A-R-C) on Wednesday, March 3 inside Levick Arena with tip off set for 5:30 p.m. 

The Storm came out of the gate fast in the opening period when they shot 6-of-9 from beyond the arc and forced six turnovers. The full-court press confused the Knights and they struggled to find a rhythm offensively. Simpson held its biggest lead of the contest with 1:30 remaining in the first as the score stood at 24-5. The Storm held a hefty 13-0 advantage on points-of-turnovers in the first and held Wartburg to just 30.8% from the field and 12.5% from long range. 

Things drastically turned in favor of the Knights during the second period when Wartburg picked up the tempo on the defensive side, forcing eight turnovers and holding the Storm to just one made field goal. The two-headed monster of Murphy and senior Payton Draper fueled the Wartburg comeback when they scored a combined 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting. The Orange & Black shot 50% from the floor in the period and turned the 12-point first period deficit into a three-point lead heading into halftime. 

The pendulum swung back in favor of the Storm in the third when the hot shooting returned as they finished the period 53.8% from the floor. Junior Hannah Anderson kept the Knights in the game when she scored a period-high five points. The Knights saw their three-point advantage vanish and went into the final frame facing a four-point deficit. 

Each team struggled to put the ball in the basket during the fourth as the two teams shot below 40%. The Knights' pestering defense headlined the final frame when they forced eight takeaways and held a 11-3 advantage on points-of-turnovers. With just 35 seconds remaining the Waverly native Draper laid in a basket to put the Knights up by one. Wartburg forced a bad shot on the following possession and senior Ally Conrad hit one of two free throws on the other end. With under a second to play, forward Cameron Kincaid was fouled on a jump shot and converted two clutch foul shots to send the game to overtime. 

The contest continued to sway back-and-forth during the first overtime when both teams shot above 55% from the field. The Knights trailed by one point with 15 seconds left after Simpson's Cassie Nash drained a pair of free throws. Draper drew a foul with two seconds remaining and hit one of the two shots from the charity stripe. The Storm's Kincaid once again found the ball in her hands with a chance to win it at the buzzer but her attempt failed.

The second overtime was neck-and-neck as each team battled for the number one seed in the upcoming American Rivers Conference tournament. Freshman Britney Young looked like a veteran when she knocked down a pair of foul shots to put the Knights up two with 1:38 remaining. Wartburg's defense was strong down the stretch and forced two missed shots by Simpson. However, the Knights could not convert on their own offensive attempts and Simpson held possession with just seven seconds left. Regan Freeland found herself open beyond the arc and drained a three-pointer to put the Storm up one with just seconds remaining. The Knights were unable to hit the buzzer beater and suffered their second loss of the campaign. 

In addition to Murphy's game high, Draper reached double figures in scoring for the seventh time in the past eight games with 19. Senior Kaitlyn Volesky notched a double-double when she grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds to go along with her 10 points. Conrad posted a team-high five assists.