Simpson opens tournament play Thursday against Loras

INDIANOLA, Iowa (Feb. 24, 2010) – After earning a share of the Iowa Conference regular season title and an opening round bye, the second-seeded Simpson women's basketball team opens defense of its 2009 IIAC Tournament title when it hosts No. 6 Loras Thursday night at Cowles Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

The game will be broadcast on 105.3 KEDB FM and online at www.kedb.fm. Pre-game is set to begin at 6:55 p.m., with Simpson students Tim Lone and Quinn Albrecht calling the action. Regular game updates will also be sent via the Simpson Twitter page, @StormSports.

The Storm (20-5, 13-3 IIAC) won a share of their third-straight regular season title and seek their third Iowa Conference Tournament title in a row. Poised to claim the No. 1 seed in the tournament with three games to go, Simpson lost two of those contests, surrendering the top spot to Coe (18-7, 13-3).

The Duhawks (13-13, 7-9) and third-year head coach Justin Heinzen entered the tournament with the final seed, but upset No. 3 Wartburg 74-66 Tuesday night. Senior Lindsay Bava leads the Duhawks and is fifth in the league in scoring (15.6 ppg) and has knocked down a team-high 44 3-pointers on the year. Her game-high 26 points led the Duhawks in the opening-round upset of the Knights.

Simpson and 23rd-year head coach Brian Niemuth boast one of the highest-scoring offenses in the nation, scoring 77.6 points per game – good for eighth nationally. Sophomore center Stacey Schutjer leads the way offensively with 15.8 points per game, third in the conference. Her 6.1 rebound average is sixth in the league and she ranks first in the IIAC with 2.16 blocks per game.

Senior guard Katie Kitzman provides the spark from the outside, scoring 13.9 points per game. Her 42.5 percent shooting from 3-point range ranks first in the conference, while her 37 made threes is second on the team to junior Amy Hamilton's 56. Junior point guard Darrina Bledsoe sets the tempo on both ends of the court, leading the Iowa Conference in assists (4.60) and steals (3.20).

Simpson swept the regular season series against Loras, taking a 78-67 overtime win at Indianola Jan. 9 and notching an 82-63 win at Dubuque Jan. 30.

Since the Iowa Conference tournament began in 2000, Simpson has advanced to the finals 8 of 10 times and won the championship five times.

The tournament's other semifinal game features top-seeded Coe hosting No. 4 Buena Vista. The semifinal winners will meet in the Championship game Saturday, Feb. 27. The highest seeded team remaining will host the final game.