The Norse cut the lead to 60-54 on Melissa O'Brien's third three-poiner of the second half. Simpson worked the ball down low to Sarah Pearson on the next possession. She scored to make it 62-54. After a Straate turnover, freshman guard Laura Montague hit a three-pointer that made it 65-54 with 8:08 remaining. Luther held Simpson scoreless for the next three minutes, working the lead down to 65-62 on a Straate jumper with 4:41 remaining. Simpson scored the next seven points, giving the Storm a 72-62 lead with 2:57 remaining. A series of free throws pushed the Simpson lead to 16 with under a minute remaining, with Danielle Dunnwald scoring on a putback with seven seconds to go to make it the final 81-68.
The Storm were led by Ashley Katch (see attached photo of her cutting down net) who scored 16 points. The 6-0 center blocked six shots and grabbed four rebounds. Katelyn Whiton scored 14 points and grabbed a team high nine rebounds. Carlie Beals scored 12 points while Tessa Van Oosbree had 11 points and seven rebounds. Heather Kay added 10. Storm point guard Dana Johnson dished out 10 assists and made eight steals.
Straate led all scorers with 22 points, 18 of which came in the second half. She led Luther with nine rebounds. O'Brien was 5-for-7 from three-point land on her way to 17 points.
The victory marked the third time that Simpson has won the Iowa Conference Tournament since its inception in 2000. It is the second time that Simpson has won both the IIAC Championship and the IIAC Tournament title in the same year. The Storm are 15-4 in IIAC Tournament games. The 2006 edition of the IIAC Championship was the second time that Simpson and Luther have met for the tournament title (the Storm defeated the Norse 66-55 in 2000).
Simpson advances to the NCAA Division III National Championships via the Iowa Conference's automatic berth into the tournament. Luther drops into Pool C and will await to see if the Norse are awarded one of the 21 at-large bids into the NCAA Division III Tournament.
At Indianola, IA (Cowles Fieldhouse) SIMPSON COLLEGE 81, LUTHER COLLEGE 68 LUTHER COLLEGE (21-5) STRAATE, Anne 7-12 8-8 22; O'BRIEN, Melissa 6-9 0-0 17; GAARD, Christina 4-7 0-0 9; JENSEN, Rachel 1-3 6-8 8; DUNNWALD, Danielle 3-4 0-0 7; TEKIPPE, Ashley 1-5 0-2 2; SVIEN, Erica 1-4 0-2 2; EICHER, Jill 0-2 1-2 1; BESTUL, Kylie 0-3 0-0 0; ERNST, Blair 0-0 0-0 0; MILLER, Jackie 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-51 15-22 68. SIMPSON COLLEGE (23-4) KATCH, Ashley 7-13 2-4 16; WHITON, Katelyn 6-12 2-2 14; BEALS, Carlie 3-7 4-4 12; VAN OOSBREE, Tessa 3-7 2-2 11; KAY, Heather 4-7 2-2 10; PEARSON, Sarah 3-7 2-2 8; JOHNSON, Dana 2-5 1-2 5; MONTAGUE, Laura 1-3 0-0 3; FISCHBACH, Jayna 1-3 0-0 2; DENOON, Kara 0-1 0-0 0; LARSON, Carrie 0-0 0-0 0; WOODARD, Kenie 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-66 15-18 81. Luther College................... 33 35 - 68 Simpson College............... 36 45 - 81 3-point goals-Luther College 7-12 (O'BRIEN, Melissa 5-7; GAARD, Christina1-3; DUNNWALD, Danielle 1-1; MILLER, Jackie 0-1), Simpson College 6-13 (VAN OOSBREE, Tessa 3-4; BEALS, Carlie 2-5; MONTAGUE, Laura 1-1; DENOON, Kara 0-1; WOODARD, Kenie 0-1; KAY, Heather 0-1). Fouled out--Luther College-None, Simpson College-None. Rebounds-Luther College 36 (STRAATE, Anne 9), Simpson College 34 (WHITON, Katelyn 9). Assists-Luther College 12 (DUNNWALD, Danielle 4), Simpson College 24 (JOHNSON, Dana 10). Total fouls-Luther College 15, Simpson College 16. A-850.