Simpson upsets No. 19 Chicago in NCAA First Round

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Simpson sophomore Ali Sokol (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) started her birthday celebration a little early.

A day before her 20th birthday, the 6-foot forward came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points in leading Simpson to a 66-53 upset over No. 19 Chicago in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Friday night at Shirk Center.

With starting center and leading scorer Stacey Schutjer (Titonka, Iowa/WCLT) on the bench for most of the first half due to foul trouble, Sokol came off the bench to score 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

"We got in foul trouble early but our bench stepped up huge," Simpson head coach Brian Niemuth said. "Tonight was a total team effort."

Sokol led a monstrous effort by the Simpson reserves, which outscored Chicago's 32-16.

"All year we've played a lot of people off the bench," Niemuth said. "Because of the way we play, everyone is used to getting significant minutes so when we get to that point, players are ready to step up and get it done."

The Storm (23-5) will play the winner No. 3 Illinois Wesleyan Saturday at 7 p.m. The host Titans (27-1) advanced with a 76-52 win over Franklin in Friday's late game.

Despite playing only three minutes in the first half without scoring a point, Schutjer came on the second half to score 10 points and pull down six rebounds. Amy Hamilton (Ames, Iowa/Ames) also scored 10 points and Jeni Hegstrom (Perry, Iowa/Perry) added eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Bryanne Halfhill led the Maroons (19-7) with 15 points. Micaela White added 11 and a game-high nine rebounds, as Chicago outrebounded the Storm 51-37, scoring 19 second-chance points on 17 offensive rebounds.

"We did not rebound well and we came in knowing they were a very good rebounding team," Niemuth said. "But we played extremely good defense. I was happy with what we did defensively and how we controlled the tempo for most of the game."

Simpson held Chicago below 28 percent shooting from the field.

Leading 31-28 at halftime, Simpson used a 16-5 run in the first seven minutes of the second half in opening a 14-point lead, its largest of the game.

The Maroons refused to go away, however, scoring seven unanswered points to pull within four with 4:50 to play.

From there, Simpson put the game away at the free throw line, hitting 11 of 13 down the stretch. Hamilton knocked down a perfect 4-for-4 in the final minutes.

Saturday's game can be heard on 105.3 KEDB FM or online at www.kedb.fm.

Notes: The win marks Simpson's first in the NCAA Championship since 2008, when the Storm advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to UW-Whitewater … Simpson is now 8-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament … Simpson has never faced Saturday's opponent, Illinois Wesleyan.