The Dubuque basketball teams swept Simpson College inside the Cowles Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon, the Storm women falling 78-63 while the men fell 70-59 as heard live on 94.3 KNIA.
The Storm women got off to a quick start, leading 19-12 after the first quarter, but they would quickly give away control of the pace and get outscored over the next two quarters 43-26 to trail going into the fourth, where the Spartans put the game away. Dubuque controlled the offensive boards, earning 14 offensive rebounds and winning the second-chance points battle 23-9 in the 15-point victory. Haley Rasmussen scored 25 points to lead Simpson.

The Storm men led for the majority of the contest against undefeated Dubuque, leading 30-29 at halftime, and taking a 49-48 lead with approximately 10 minutes to go, but a five-minute scoreless streak that combined with a 15-0 Spartans run put the game out of reach. The Storm were outscored on points in the paint in the contest 28-12, with 22 of those coming in the second half for the Spartans. Storm men’s head coach Brad Bjorkgren tells KNIA Sports the Storm jsut have to find a way to play for 40 minutes, because playing for 35 just isn’t cutting it in their opening conference games. Caden Rehmeier led the team with 12 points.

The Storm women are now 4-4 and 2-1 in conference play, while the men are 3-4 and 0-3 in conference play, with the combined record of their conference opponents being 9-0. The women wait until Saturday for a trip to Wartburg, while the men play Tuesday against Faith Baptist Bible College.