Anna Wanek hit a three point shot with five seconds to go to put the Simpson Storm women’s basketball team in the lead for good Saturday, as they defeated Luther 75-73 in head coach Brian Niemuth’s 400th conference win, while the Storm men were ice cold from the field as they fell 66-48 in a doubleheader heard live on 94.3 KNIA.

The Storm women and the Norse were in a fierce back and forth close contest the entire game, with neither team earning a lead of higher than seven. Simpson led 21-17 after the first, but trailed 40-39 at the half. The two teams again went back and forth in the third, but Cassie Nash took over in the period scoring 14 points to get Simpson back on top 59-56. Nash continued to dominate in the fourth despite missing time due to injury, and down two with seconds to go she found Wanek open in the corner for the final shot.

Assistant coach Claire Johnson tells KNIA Sports the final play wasn’t scripted, and they trusted the squad to go out and make a good play, and two of the senior leaders stepped up to the challenge. Nash had 26 points, while Haley Rasmussen had 20.

The Storm men could not find the bottom of the net, going on multiple minutes long scoreless streaks, and only made six field goals in the first half to trail 34-17 at halftime. That would be as close as Simpson got the rest of the way, as they didn’t put up any points for nearly the first five minutes of the second half, and didn’t make shots until it was too late. Andrew Gibb had 14 points to lead the way.

The Storm women are now 11-10 overall and 6-6 in the conference, while the men fall to 11-9 and 4-8. Both teams next play Wednesday hosting Buena Vista.