WAVERLY, Iowa – Regan Freland beat the buzzer to send the game into overtime and the No. 5/6 Simpson College women's basketball team outscored the No. 12/15 Knights 10-5 in the extra period to sweep the season series against Wartburg with a 78-73 win inside Levick Arena.

Following Brea Dillavou's third triple of the game that put Wartburg (14-4, 7-3 A-R-C) ahead by four with just over half a minute remaining, the Storm (17-1, 9-0 A-R-C) found themselves in dire need of some magic in order to remain undefeated in American Rivers Conference play and push their win streak to 14 games. Cassie Nash cut the gap to one possession with a free throw, but Macy Harris was perfect at the stripe and the Knights were back out in front 68-63 with just nine ticks left on the clock.

Out of the Storm timeout, Nash missed a contested layup but Anna Wanek was there to keep the Storm's hopes alive with a put-back attempt that placed the score at 68-65. Harris returned to the line for the Knights with four seconds on the clock, and after missing both attempts, Simpson had one last opportunity to tie the game. Turning to Freland, who has a history of playing the hero against the Knights, the Storm were able to pull off what seemed like an impossible feat as the sophomore knocked down a triple from the right corner to put extra minutes on the clock.

The two squads traded four points to open the overtime period before Nash gave Simpson the lead for good with back-to-back layups that set the score at 75-71 with 26 seconds left. Jaedon Murphy cut the lead in half on the ensuing possession, but later came up empty on a game-tying triple following a free throw from Wanek that gave the Storm some cushion. Rasmussen then scored the final two points of the game at the stripe, giving Simpson three-straight wins over the Knights dating back to last season's double overtime win in Waverly.

The Storm got out to an early lead over the Knights after a 10-0 run put the visitors ahead 17-8 with 2:08 left in the first quarter. Simpson would lead for the rest of the half, taking a 38-35 lead into the break. The Knights came out of the locker room with a 10-2 spurt and led by as many as seven before six makes at the line between Freland and Cameron Kincaid brought the score to 51-50 in favor of Wartburg going into the final 10 minutes.

Nash, who scored nine points between the final minute of regulation and the overtime period, finished with a game-high 16 points, five rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block. Wanek netted 15 points while shooting 46.2 percent from the floor and continued her theme of setting new career-highs this month with nine rebounds, three shy of Jenna Taylor's game-high total of 12.

Freland and Kincaid each had 14 points to round out Simpson's double-digit scorers. Freland added four rebounds, two assists and two steals to her scoring, and Kincaid had five rebounds, two assists and two blocks while extending her streak of made free throws to 31 with a perfect 6-of-6 performance. Taylor and Rasmussen each contributed eight points and Morgan Pietig added a triple for the Storm.

After not taking a single free throw in the first half, Simpson made 15-of-18 in the 25 minutes for an 83.3 percent overall efficiency. The Storm shot 44.4 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from outside the arc. Simpson brought down 51 rebounds during the game, the most since tallying 56 against Nebraska Wesleyan on Jan. 8, 2020.

Up Next
Simpson plays back-to-back games against Luther with the first taking place on the road Monday at 5:30 p.m. The Storm will then have Wednesday night off before welcoming the Norse to Cowles Fieldhouse on Feb. 5 for a 2 p.m. tip-off.