CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Fifth-seeded Luther College (14-12 overall, 8-8 A-R-C) and third-seeded Simpson College (16-10 overall, 10-6 A-R-C) are advancing to the semifinals of the 2023 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Women’s Basketball Tournament.
In an exciting quarterfinal match-up that went down to the final buzzer, the Norse pulled the upset off on the road in Cedar Rapids (70-64). Five from Luther found themselves in double figures in the victory,
Kate Hosking (15),
Jordan Rubie (14),
Kailey Jones (12),
Grace Prokosch (11), and
Megan Miller (10).
Lizzie Kauls led all rebounders with 14 on the night for the Norse.
Kaalyn Peterson led the way for the Kohawks with 23 points, 13 rebounds, two steals, and one block.
Simpson got out to a quick start in their 95-70 win over Dubuque in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.
Cassie Nash came out with fire power early for the Storm with defense that converted into offense. She led all scorers with 26 points, recorded six steals and five assists on the night.
Molly Lutmer added an additional 23 points and
Anna Wanek rounds out the double figure scorers for Simpson with 11 points.
The Norse and Storm will be on the road for Thursday’s semifinal round. Luther will make the trip to Waverly for a match-up against No. 24/RV Wartburg College (20-5 overall, 15-1 A-R-C). Game time in Waverly is set for 7:00 p.m. The other semifinal game will see No. 19/RV Loras (21-4 overall, 14-2 A-R-C) host Simpson, also slated for a 7:00 p.m. tip. The Knights and Duhawks each earned first-round byes as the tournament’s top two seeds. Wartburg, the No. 1-seed, won this year’s regular season title outright for the tenth time in program history, while Loras secured the No. 2-seed as the regular season runner-up.
No. 5-seed Luther College (70), No. 4-seed Coe College (64)–
BOX SCORE
No. 3-seed Simpson College (95), No. 6-seed University of Dubuque (70) –
BOX SCORE
The American Rivers Conference Tournament champion receives the leagues’ automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III tournament. New regional rankings will appear tomorrow, but currently Loras is ranked No. 2 and Wartburg No. 5 in the most recent NCAA Division III Region IX Rankings.
