Norse Defeat Nationally Ranked Storm
Feb. 9, 2008
Ashley TeKippe put her teammates on her shoulders in the second half and helped lead the Norse to a 69-65 victory over nationally ranked #7 Simpson College here in the Regents Center.
TeKippe poured in a game high 25 points, 16 of which came in the second half. She also corralled a team high nine rebounds while playing all but seven minutes. In the final 55 seconds of this contest, Jill Eicher sealed the deal for the Norse, connecting on five-of-six attempts from the free throw line. The Norse trailed by as many as eight in the final stanza and took the lead for good thanks to Eicher's first two free throw attempts down the stretch.
The free throw line proved to be the difference in this ball game as the Norse made 27-of-34 attempts. Simpson made 39 trips to the charity stripe but made just 16.
Joining TeKippe in double figures was Camille Stenhaug. Stenhaug tallied 19 points and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the line. Eicher recorded all seven of her points from the charity stripe and was Luther's third leading scorer.
The Storm trio of Carlie Beals, Whitney Franker and Katelyn Whiton all reached double figures. Beals, who was 3-for-4 from behind the three-point line, had a team best 14 points. Franker and Whiton were both credited with 12.
The win was Luther's third in a row and also secured a spot for the six-team Iowa Conference post season tournament. The victory also snapped Simpson's 14-game win streak. The Norse are now 9-3, 12-8 overall, and alone in second place in the league standings. Simpson is 11-1 in the IIAC 19-2 overall.
The Norse have two games on the road next week. Wednesday, they will travel to the University of Dubuque and on Saturday they travel to Loras College.
