She gathered as the defensive help stepped up, before banking a high-arcing floater over the Varsity defence.
It gave the South Pac Magic a 48-44 lead with a minute to play, ending a five-minute scoreless run, which threatened to derail the team.
The basket ensured the Magic kept a nose ahead, edging Varsity 49-47 in the Dunedin women’s club game on Tuesday night.
Simpson was at her dominant best in the Magic backcourt.
The 2021 league Most Valuable Player had 19 points, hurting Varsity with her full array of threats.
It was her that sparked the Magic’s fast start, too.
She finished in transition, before hitting a corner three-pointer to ignite a 12-0 run to open the game.
It was a period in which Varsity struggled to finish, generating enough good looks, just not being clinical in turning them into points.
Legacy Harrison got the students going after six scoreless minutes.
She was key in continuing the run too, notching all of her seven points in helping Varsity back to a 16-14 deficit.
But the Magic never let them in front.
They responded with a 13-3 run of their own, Simpson contributing seven of those points, as the Magic leapt out to 29-17.
That closed to 29-20 at halftime, before Varsity made another push early in the third quarter.
Back court duo Tyler Mitchell (13 points) and Caitlin O’Connell (seven points) came into the game, restoring the margin to four points for much of the quarter.
But the Magic again hit back, and Simpson scored twice in transition to take a 42-34 lead to the final break.
That became 46-36, when Sereana Rokotokala finished in the post for the Magic.
At that point their scoring dried up and Varsity’s ignited.
Leila Anesi began the fightback with a basket in the post. It was a run that continued through to Abby Harris finding a cutting Sophie Adams in the post, Adams finishing to make it 46-44.
But just as the Magic seemed on the verge of a collapse, Simpson rediscovered her scoring touch with her late floater.
Mitchell hit a triple in response, bringing Varsity to within one.
But Simpson added a free throw, before the Magic defence held off a final attempt from the students.
In the other game, Samara Gallaher had 20 points as Ajax went on a 15-3 run to close the game and claim a 56-45 win over the Andy Bay Falcons.
Little had separated the teams up until that point.
Alexa Duff led the Falcons with 12 points.
