La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team dropped its first home game of the season with a 70-56 loss to sixth-ranked Simpson College (Iowa) Saturday in the Gundersen Hotel & Suites Thanksgiving Classic.  The Eagles fall to 6-2 on the season while Storm improve to 4-1. 

UWL took a 3-2 lead on Julia Seidel's three-pointer, but a three-play play from Cassie Nash gave Simpson (Iowa) a 5-3 lead. The Storm, ranked sixth on D3hoops.com, would lead the rest of the game. Simpson (Iowa) went on a 13-0 run to take a 15-3 lead with 2:13 left in the first quarter on Cameron Kincaid's three-point basket. The Storm led, 17-8, after the opening quarter.

Emma Gamoke's three-point field goal cut the lead to 17-11, but a 7-0 run gave Simpson (Iowa) a 24-11 advantage with 6:29 remaining in the first half. The Storm took a 35-22 halftime lead. 

Simpson (Iowa) took a 40-27 lead with 5:40 left in the third quarter, but layups by Gamoke and Paige Schumann cut the lead to 40-31 with 3:44 remaining. Jenna Taylor's three-pointer with :06 left in the quarter gave the Storm a 54-40 lead. 

The Eagles cut the lead to 58-50 with 7:30 remaining after Alana Gilles' layup. Gamoke scored UWL's first eight points in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles could get no closer than eight points in the fourth period. 

UWL, now 3-1 at home this year, shot 37.7% from the field Saturday, including 31.8% (seven-of-22) from three-point range, and 52.9% (nine-of-17) at the free throw line. Gamoke led the Eagles with 16 points while Lexie Higgins and Schumann each finished with eight. Higgins had a team-high eight rebounds while Schumann finished with a team-leading three assists. Gamoke was named to the all-tournament team. 

Simpson (Iowa) shot 39.7% from the field, including 36.0% (nine-of-25) from three-point range, and 93.8% (15-of-16) at the line. Kincaid led the Storm with 18 points while Anna Wanek finished with 16 and Jenna Taylor with 10. Wanek had five rebounds while Taylor finished with a game-high nine rebounds.  Taylor was also selected to the all-tournament team.

UWL opens Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play Wednesday, December 1 at UW-Platteville at 7 p.m.