Storm ranked 19th in nation; host Classic this weekend

INDIANOLA, Iowa – The Simpson women's basketball team jumped four spots to No. 19 in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches' poll after a 2-0 start to the season.

Simpson began the season at No. 25, but made the jump after scoring 187 points in two games at the 2009 North Central College/Holiday Inn Tip Off Classic last weekend. Simpson defeated Olivet, 92-56 in the opener and dropped North Central in the championship game, 95-71.

A pair of Storm players took home all-tournament recognition, as sophomore center Stacey Schutjer earned tournament MVP honors and senior guard Katie Kitzman landed on the all-tournament team. Schutjer averaged 20 points per game and shot 84.2 percent from the field, while Kitzman averaged 18 points and five assists per contest.

Simpson Set To Host 2009 Storm Classic

Simpson will host the 2009 Storm Classic this weekend, Nov. 27-28 at Cowles Fieldhouse. Buena Vista, Nebraska Wesleyan and UW-Whitewater will all travel to Indianola for the weekend tournament.

Fellow Iowa Conference representative Buena Vista enters the tournament with a 3-1 record, starting out the season 3-0 before losing to Division II Minnesota State-Mankato on Nov. 24. Senior guard Margo Muhlbauer leads the Beavers, averaging 24.8 points per game. She earned Iowa Conference Female Athlete of the Week honors for the period ending Sunday, Nov. 22, and was selected to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week Nov. 25.

Nebraska Wesleyan of Lincoln, Neb. comes to the 2009 Storm Classic representing the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Picked to finish 13th in the GPAC, the Prairie Wolves carry a 2-1 record into the weekend after dropping a 103-58 decision to conference-foe Hastings (Neb.), ranked fourth in the nation in NAIA D-II. Katy Golden leads NWU in scoring with 14.3 points per game, while Sadie Struebing is the leader on the boards with 6.7 rebounds per contest.

Out of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, UW-Whitewater comes into the Storm Classic as the No. 9 team in Division III with a record of 1-0 after a 25-3 campaign a year ago. In their only game of the season to this point, the Warhawk's defeated Loras, 89-75 Nov. 17. Senior Nicole Bundy shot 13-17 on her way to a career-high 32 points in the win.

Simpson and UW-Whitewater have had a number of run-ins in recent seasons, as the Warhawks ended the Storm's NCAA Tournament runs in each of the last two seasons. In 2008, UW-Whitewater defeated Simpson 96-69 in the Sweet 16 and in 2009, the Warhawks notched a 69-59 win in the first round of the tournament.