Sheboygan, Wis. -- The Nebraska Wesleyan women's basketball team held off a furious comeback attempt by Simpson College to earn a 60-57 victory in the 2015-16 season opener at the Lakeland College Tournament on Friday night (Nov. 13).

NWU led by 17 points in the 4th quarter but Simpson went on a 21-6 run to get within two points with just under two minutes remaining.  The Prairie Wolves added three free throws to go up by five points but Simpson responded with a layup to cut the lead to three points with 0:51 left.

Nebraska Wesleyan missed a shot on their end on the next possession giving the Storm one last chance to tie the game.  Mackenzie Haupt shot a deep 3-pointer with 0:04 left that did not draw iron and the clock ran out to give the Prairie Wolves the victory.

For the Prairie Wolves, the win snaps a 14-game losing streak that carried over from the end of last year.  They will now move on to the championship game of the Lakeland Tournament where they will take on Carthage College at 3:00 on Saturday.

NWU came out of the gates firing as they built up a 25-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.  They maintained that lead for the majority of the second quarter and led 33-21 at halftime.  The Prairie Wolves led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter and led 48-33 at the end of three periods.

Simpson scored 24 point in the final quarter and outscored NWU by 12, but the lead was too much to overcome.

Courtney Cook had a huge game for the Prairie Wolves posting a double-double in the opener.  Cook had a game-high 20 points with 13 rebounds.  She was 7-12 from the field and also had four steals.  She was the lone NWU player in double figures.

The Prairie Wolves were 8-15 from 3-point range, but just 38.5 percent from the floor.  They were 12-37 on two point shots.