Box Score REDDING, Calif. - The battle of the "Red Hawks" took place tonight in the James M. Grant Center between Benedictine University Redhawks and your Simpson University Red Hawks.
Simpson held onto the tightly contested game 66-60 to defeat the first-place Benedictine Redhawks tonight.
The first points of the night belonged to a jumper by
Rory Hetrick to give Simpson the Early lead.
The Red Hawks jumped out in front and grabbed the early 11-4 lead after a 9-2 run with buckets by Hetrick,
Itzel Torres, and
Rachel Gafford.
But Ben U answered back and tied the game at 13 late in the first quarter.
Nikki Thompson closed out the first quarter with a layup to give Simpson the 15-14 lead as they headed into the second quarter of play.
Ben U struck first in the second quarter by scoring the first four points to grab the 18-15 lead before a Hetrick layup put Simpson back on the board.
Simpson tied the game back at 19 after a couple of free throws by
Kayla Morgan.
The Second quarter followed a back-and-forth contest that saw four lead changes between Simpson and Ben U.
Thompson scored the final points of the second half with just over a minute left on a mid-range jumper that helped Simpson go into the half with a 34-33 lead.
Gafford got the second half scoring on a layup on Simpson's opening possession.
A seesaw battle between the Red Hawks saw multiple lead and momentum changes throughout the third quarter.
Simpson went up by as much as six points late in the third quarter after a
Tessa Kinney free throw.
But a three-point Simpson lead entering the final quarter set up a thrilling finish as the Red Hawks jostled back and forth.
After finding themselves down one-point early in the fourth quarter Torres hit a clutch three-pointer to help Simpson reclaim the lead.
Simpson went on to take the 56-55 lead midway through the fourth quarter and never looked back.
Hetrick nailed both of her free throws with just under a minute to ice the game and make it a two-possession game.
Gafford put the finishing touches as she hit both of her free throws to close out the 66-60 home victory.
Rory Hetrick led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds.
Nikki Thompson followed close behind with 16 points to go along with four rebounds.
Rachel Gafford rounded out the double-digit performances for Simpson with 14 points and four rebounds.
Simpson plays its last home game this Saturday against Park-Gilbert University at 5:30 PM.
