The Simpson basketball teams split the doubleheader at Loras Saturday. The Simpson women won 73-59 and the men lost 77-71. 

The Simpson Women were fueled by 23 points from Maddax DeVault and a career-high 20 points from Freshman Kiera McCormick. In the first quarter, Loras came out shooting lights out as the Duhawks hit four first quarter three pointers. However, the Storm answered back with a pair of threes from DeVault and a pair of layups from McCormick gave Simpson an 18-14 lead after the first quarter. 

In the second, Simpson was able to build a comfortable lead where DeVault took over. The senior guard hit four threes and totaled for 14 points to give the Storm a 41-27 lead. 

After halftime, Loras chipped away but it was too much for the Duhawks to come back from. The Storm took the game by 14 and improved to 6-3 in the A-R-C.

In the men’s game it was scrappy from the get go. Loras jumped out to a 10-3 lead and never looked back. The Storm found themselves in early foul trouble as Senior Guard Levi Gurwell picked up three fouls in the first ten minutes. Simpson had to rely on Calix Cahill to lead the guard play for the duration of the game. 

The Duhawks were led by 6 ‘7 Senior Jack Hughes with 21 points on the evening and seemed to be difficult to defend against the Storm defense. Simpson chipped away with bench points and smart decision making but fell short 77-71. The Storm fall to 8-10 and 5-4 in the A-R-C. Simpson will return to the floor Saturday, January 31st in a home contest against Luther College.