INDIANOLA, Iowa – Wartburg women's basketball clinched its fourth-straight regular season American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) championship after surviving a road test 64-55 against Simpson College on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
The Knights close the regular season on a 15-game winning streak and will be the top seed in next week's A-R-C Tournament. Wartburg is now 19-6 overall and 15-1 in A-R-C play, while Simpson moves to 12-12 and 8-7 in A-R-C play.
Game Summary
- First Half
- First Quarter
- The first Wartburg points of the game came from a three pointer made by Katie Boulanger before Corrie Harrison scored in the paint a minute later to make the score 5-2 early
- Another score from Harrison and a layup from Lauren Golinghorst pushed the Wartburg lead to 9-4, but Simpson scored the next four points to make the score 9-8 midway through the first quarter
- Katelyn Aden scored at the free throw line before both Laynee Hogan and Grace Hennessy each made baskets in the paint in the final minutes of the opening quarter, but Simpson outscored the Knights 12-4 to take a 19-14 lead to end the first
- Second Quarter
- Wartburg started the second quarter with a steal from Emma Townsley that led to a transition three from Aden and the Golinghorst scored in the paint a minute later to make the score 21-19, Simpson in front, after two minutes
- The Storm lead grew to as many as six points, but a three pointer from Lauren Donlea and two layup from Harrison kept the Knights in striking distance as Simpson led 29-26 with 3:30 left in the half
- Hogan closed the first half scoring with a layup and the foul that made the halftime score 31-29, Simpson still leading
- Second Half
- Third Quarter
- Simpson outscored the Knights 6-1 in the first three minutes of play of the second half to take its largest lead of the game (37-30)
- The Knights responded with a made layup from Harrison and a three-point play from Golinghorst to close the gap to two points one minute later
- Trailing by four, the Knights followed a two and a half minute scoring drought for both teams with back-to-back scores in the paint from Golinghorst and Hogan to tie the game at 39-39 with just under three minutes left in the third
- Wartburg closed the quarter with a free throw from Ally Poegel before four points in a row from Boulanger to send the game to the fourth quarter tied 44-44
- Fourth Quarter
- Each team traded baskets to begin the fourth, but Wartburg connected on back-to-back three pointers to take a 52-46 lead following three point makes from Boulanger and Hennessy
- Simpson scored four unanswered points over the next five minutes of play to close the Wartburg lead to 52-50 with 2:31 left to play
- Hogan drove to the hoop for a score to put Wartburg ahead by four, but Simpson scored the next three points to make the score 54-53 with just over a minute and a half to play
- The next possession, Hogan found an open Boulanger in the corner for three and then Townsley added a layup to help Wartburg secure a 64-55 road win over Simpson and the A-R-C regular season title
Top Performers
Notes/Streaks
- Fourth consecutive regular season A-R-C title for the Knights
- 13th regular season championship in program history
- Eighth career regular season A-R-C title under head coach Bob Amsberry
- Eighth-straight win over Simpson
- Simpson still leads the all time series 53-45
- Career high in rebounding for Hogan
- Also tied career high assist mark
- Hennessy closes the regular season with 40+ steals and blocks
- One of two players to do so in the A-R-C
- 12th game this season with three or more three pointers made for Boulanger
- Golinghorst and Hogan combined for 20 points off the bench for the Knights
- Led Simpson 25-11 in bench points
- Hennessy is now one block shy from tying for sixth all time in Wartburg history
- Currently at 83 career blocks
- Wartburg had season highs in turnovers against Simpson's full court press this season
- 26 earlier this season and 25 tonight
Next Time Out
The Knights will be in action next on Thursday, Feb. 26 for an A-R-C Tournament semifinal matchup against an undecided opponent inside Levick Arena at 7 p.m.
