The Coe women's basketball team rode a 20-3 surge in the second half to a 70-64 victory over Simpson in the opening round of the Iowa Conference tournament at Eby Fieldhouse Tuesday night.

The Kohawks (18-8) will play at Luther in the semifinals Thursday night.

Coe and Simpson were locked in a 33-33 tie at halftime Tuesday. It was still tied at 35-35 when the Kohawks took control of the game with their 20-3 run, grabbing a 55-38 lead on a 3-pointer by Aleena Hobbs with 8:30 left in the game.

Simpson (16-10) got within seven points at 63-56 with 1:33, but Coe stopped the bleeding and prevailed by the six-point final margin.

Megan Hayes led the Kohawks with 16 points. Hobbs finished with 13 points. Allie Wirth grabbed 11 rebounds.

Brittany Hedrick made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points for Simpson. Katie Ahrenholtz had 18 points.

SIMPSON (64): Van Wyk 1 1-2 3, Ahrenholtz 8 1-3 18, Boland 1 0-0 3, Hedrick 7 2-2 21, Haupt 4 0-0 9, Lankford 0 0-0 0, Bosworth 2 0-0 4, Kaale 1 1-2 4, Mauro 0 0-0 0, Dalsing 0 0-0 0 Gullickson 0 0-0 0, Morrow 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 5-9 64.

COE (70): Wirth 2 3-4 7, Hobbs 2 8-10 13 Hayes 6 4-7 16, Hansche 3 0-0 7 Lehman 2 4-4 9 Holmes 1 5-7 7, Lynch 0 0-0 0, McCrary 2 0-0 6, Koolbeck 1 1-2 4, Stulken 0 1-2 1. Totals 19 26-36 70.

Halftime - Coe 33, Simpson 33. 3-point goals - Simpson 9 (Hedrick 5, Ahrenholtz 1, Boland 1, Haupt 1, Kaale 1), Coe 6 (McCrary 2, Hobbs 1, Hansche 1, Lehman 1, Koolbeck 1).