DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team Friday afternoon took on Simpson in the opening contest of the Loras Classic and fell 90-68.

The Storm opened the game in a full court press which proved its worth as they jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the games first four minutes. The press continued to stymie the Viking offense as they were held to just five points through the games first seven minutes and trailed 16-5 with three left in the first. Bethany though, figured the press out in the final few minutes of the first quarter outscoring Simpson 12-4 in the stretch with Gianna Klarenbeek and Jordan Anderson finishing in transition in the quarters final 35 seconds cut the deficit to 20-17 after 10 minutes of play. 

After an Ashanti Boykin three midway through the second quarter cut the lead to 27-25, Simpson would spark a run headed to the half. They would catch fire over the final five minutes of the frame, scoring on nine of their final 10 possessions and outscoring the Vikings 20-10 to hold a 47-35 at the break.

After the two teams traded buckets to begin the third quarter, Simpson would once again go on a big run to take control. They would score 12 straight points to take a 24 point lead with 6:57 to go in the third before a Juliana Ewald three ended the run. From there on out, the teams would play even the rest of the third quarter with the Storm leading 73-50 after three quarters. 

In the final frame of the contest, the Vikings would outscore the Storm 18-17, holding Simpson to 4-of-16 shooting from the field. 

Ewald led Bethany in the contest tallying 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting while Klarenbeek had 13 points. Lexiss Trygg added 12 points going 4-of-4 from the field while Kaylee Hunter had 10 points. 

As a team the Vikings dished out 19 assists which was their second highest total of the season, but they recorded just 26 total rebounds while Simpson had 43.