INDIANOLA, Iowa – (1/14/23) The University of Dubuque women's basketball team traveled to Simpson College Storm hoping to snap a two-game losing streak. Entering the fourth quarter, the Spartans found themselves down by 15. The Spartans used an impressive 20-3 run to regain the lead and capture the road victory 77-73.

Within the first minute, the Spartans trailed 5-0, which forced head coach Justin Smith into a quick timeout. Out of the timeout, Senior guard, Tabria Thomas scored the Spartans first points from a layup assisted by Kathleen Mathias. The first quarter consisted of runs by both teams as the Storm jumped out to a 12-4 lead. In the ensuing minutes, the Spartans would use a 10-0 run, thanks to layups from Mia Miller, Thomas, and Morgan Hawkins, to regain the lead at 14-12. The competitive battle continued as the Spartans ended the first quarter with the slim one-point advantage at 20-19.

Entering the second quarter, the Storm quickly pushed the ball up the court and scored in transition. As a result they were able to extend their largest lead of the game to the 12 (41-29). Offensively, the Spartans were limited to just 13 attempts from the field (4-13). Thomas scored 11 of the 14 second quarter points for the Spartans. Simpson outscored the Spartans by 10 as they shot over 40% from three in the first half as they led 43-34.

Early in the third quarter, both teams continued to trade buckets as Simpson still maintained a nine point lead (52-43) after and one-layup was converted from Hawkins. The next few possessions, Simpson went on an 8-0 run to stretch their lead out to 17 (60-43). Simpson led by as many as 19 points in the third. The Spartans held the ball for the last shot of the third quarter, as Isabella Tierney, buried a three-pointer to the cut the deficit to 15 (68-53).

To start the fourth, the Spartans forced four consecutive turnovers on the Storm which ignited the exhilarating 20-3 run. Simpson took a timeout as they saw their lead dwindle down to eight (68-60) with 7:55 remaining in the quarter. A few minutes later, Lauren Livingston drained a three to pull within six as Simpson led 71-65. With two minutes left, Tierney took the game over as she hit another three to bring the Spartans within one (71-70). The next possession, Hawkins found the hot hand as Tierney drained another three to give the Spartans their first lead of the game since the start of the second quarter (73-71). As Simpson brought the ball up looking for a shot, Tierney stole the ball and hit a baseline floater to ice the game. The Spartans outscored the Storm 24-5 in the fourth quarter to complete the comeback victory.

The Spartans had three players in double figures. Leading the way was Tabria Thomas with 21 points and shooting 9-10 from the free throw line. Morgan Hawkins finished with a near triple-double as she had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists. Isabella Tierney capped off the day with 15 points, scoring 12 of them in the fourth quarter. Kathleen Mathias recording another impressive stat line as she had nine points, six rebounds, and 11 steals which broke a school record. Former Spartan Tina Felderman had the previous school mark of 10 steals in a game against Upper Iowa University in 1996.

Overall the Spartans shot 44% from the field (29-65) while Simpson shot 49% (25-51). However, the difference in the game was the defense for the Spartans as they forced 34 turnovers which resulted in 32 points off turnovers. Throughout the game there was five lead changes and three ties.

The Spartans now move to 10-6 overall and 4-3 in A-R-C play.

Up Next

The Spartans will return home to face the Luther College Norse on Wednesday, January 18. The game is schedule to start at 5:30 p.m. inside the Stoltz Sports Center.