The Simpson women’s basketball team defeated Luther in overtime at home Saturday as the men’s team came up short in an American Rivers Conference doubleheader heard live on the KNIA3 stream.

The Storm women led by just one at the end of the first quarter and five at halftime, but then were outscored 16-8 in the third quarter. After a close final frame, four quarters was not enough to determine a winner. Simpson outscored the Norse 17-12 in the overtime period to secure the 88-83 win. It was a back and forth contest that included 21 different lead changes and no double digit leads by any team but the difference maker was Molly Lutmer’s 37 point offensive performance for the Storm. Simpson cashed in on successful outside shooting after just scoring 28 of their points in the paint. The Storm women improve to 12-10 overall and 8-5 in league play. 

The Simpson men struggled offensively in the contest going into halftime with just 27 points and trailed a majority of the contest. After outscoring the Norse by two in the second it wasn’t enough to mount a late comeback. The Storm men did see an impressive offensive performance by Levi Gurwell who had 32 points. The Simpson men fall to 5-17 overall and 2-11 in conference play. The Simpson men and women’s basketball teams will both next compete on Wednesday at Nebraska Wesleyan.