|
Mustangs Are National Champions!
Mustangs Top Northwestern In Semifinals
Mustangs Topple Black Hills State To Reach Final Four
Mustangs Move On To Elite Eight With Win Against Bethel
Mustangs Roll Past Maine-Fort Kent In First Round
 |
 |
Dani Gass |
Roni Miller |
Morningside put the finishing touches on a storybook season when the Mustangs won the NAIA Division II National Championship with a 68-63 victory against GPAC rival Hastings College in Tuesday’s NAIA II title game in Sioux City’s Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in a marquee matchup that pitted two teams that had combined to win five of the previous seven NAIA II national titles.
Morningside, which also won national titles in 2004 and 2005, finished the campaign with a 38-0 record and joined Indiana Wesleyan in 2007 as the only teams in history to win the NAIA II crown with an undefeated record.
Eighteenth-ranked Hastings was a surprise finalist after a fifth place GPAC finish during the regular season. The Broncos upset second-ranked Shawnee State in the second round and No. 3 College of the Ozarks in the semifinals. For awhile, it looked like they might add top-ranked Morningside to their list of upset victims when Hastings took a 50-44 lead midway through the second half before the Mustangs rallied to keep their undefeated season intact.
Dani Gass, named to the all-tournament team, fueled the Mustangs’ triumph with game-high totals of 24 points and 12 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season. The 12 rebounds matched her season’s high.
Leslie Foral gave the Mustangs one of her top offensive performances of the season with 14 points and Roni Miller provided 11 points off the bench. Brittany Williamson just missed double figures with eight points.
Autumn Bartel, named the national tournament MVP, dealt a game-high five assists and had four steals to share Mustang honors with Foral.
The 12 rebounds by Gass and a career-high seven rebounds by Laura Nelson led the Mustangs to a 36-30 advantage on the boards. Nelson also had seven rebounds in the Mustangs’ semifinal round victory against Northwestern College.
Lindsay Ducey had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds for Hastings and was joined in double figures by Kay Broekemeier with 14 points, Kim Faimon with 12, and Heather McKeon with 10.
Hastings took an early 5-4 lead after a 3-pointer by Broekemeier and a basket by Rachel Isherwood, but Morningside answered with a 13-point run, capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Gass from the top of the key, to go up 17-5 with 13:30 left in the half. Foral was also instrumental in the early Mustang spurt when she drove into the lane for one score and also drilled a jumper from the baseline.
Faimon rallied the Broncos with a conventional 3-point play along with a 3-point bomb and then Becky Tesch drilled a 3-pointer of her own to pull Hastings within 23-17 with 10:10 left in the half. The Broncos kept charging by working the ball inside to Ducey for her first two baskets of the game, followed by a Broekmeier 3-pointer to close within 25-24 with 5:50 left.
Foral quieted the Broncos’ rally with a 3-pointer to start a stretch where the Mustangs outscored their opponent 14-6 over the final 5:26 of the half to take a 39-30 lead into the intermission.
Ducey scored the Broncos’ first eight points of the second half to lead Hastings on a 20-5 spurt to start the second half. The Broncos opened up a 50-44 lead for their largest advantage of the game when Faimon made two free throws with 12:17 remaining. Led by Gass and Miller, the Mustangs didn’t buckle and went on an 18-4 run to surge in front 62-54 with 3:51 left. Gass and Miller each scored seven points during the pivotal run.
Hastings rallied within 64-61 with 1:03 left on a 3-pointer by McKeon, but the Mustangs held on with some clutch free throw shooting down the stretch by Foral and Miller to wrap up their third national championship of the decade.
Box Score
 |
 |
Autumn Bartel |
Brittany Williamson |
No. 1-ranked Morningside will try to put the finishing touches on a dream season when the Mustangs play for the NAIA Division II National Championship on Tuesday night in Sioux City’s Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena.
The Mustangs, who have been ranked No. 1 for the entire season, punched their title game ticket with a 63-58 victory over GPAC rival Northwestern College, the defending NAIA II National Champions, in Monday’s semifinals. Morningside, which will take a perfect 37-0 record into the National Championship Game, will face another GPAC rival for the title in 18th-ranked Hastings College, which upset No. 3 College of the Ozarks 75-60 in the other semifinal.
Tuesday’s two finalists have already combined to win five NAIA II National Championships this decade. Morningside won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005, while the Broncos were NAIA II champs in 2002, 2003, and 2006. Morningside defeated Hastings 75-59 when they met during the regular season on Jan. 17 in Sioux City. Ironically, the Broncos had played a non-conference game against College of the Ozarks in their previous game before their regular season contest against Morningside.
Autumn Bartel led the Mustangs with 18 points in their win against No. 6 Northwestern in the NAIA semifinals. It was her 28th consecutive double figure scoring performance. Laura Nelson and Brittany Williamson each chipped in with 11 points and Roni Miller just missed double figures with nine tallies.
Becca Hurley, the GPAC’s regular season scoring champion, led the Red Raiders with 19 points and Randa Hulstein, the GPAC’s rebounding champion, added 13 points to go along with a NAIA Division II National Tournament record 26 rebounds.
Hulstein’s rebound haul led the Red Raiders to a 53-45 advantage on the boards. Williamson paced the Mustangs with a season’s high 11 rebounds.
Bartel led all performers with five assists and eight steals.
Both teams struggled with their shooting. Northwestern connected on just 32.3 percent of its field goal attempts and the Mustangs weren’t much better at 33.8 percent.
Northwestern struck first when it worked the ball inside to Hulstein for the game’s first basket, but the Mustangs answered with a seven-point run that featured baskets by Nelson and Bartel and a 3-pointer by Williamson to take a 7-2 lead with 17:30 left in the half.
The Red Raiders closed within 10-8 on a basket by Hurley with 15:09 left before Morningside reeled off 13 unanswered points, the final six on 3-pointers by reserves Mackenzi Mendlik and Miller, to open a 13-point lead, 23-10, midway through the half.
Northwestern refused to go away, however, and reeled off eight unanswered points to ignite an 18-4 run that saw the Red Raiders take the lead at 28-27 when Hurley bombed in a 3-pointer with 2:34 left in the half. Morningside regained the lead by the intermission on a steal and layup by Bartel with 45 seconds left to take a 29-28 lead into the break.
Northwestern took a 31-29 lead with 18:40 left in the game when Hurley was left alone from 3-point range. The Mustangs responded with a 19-2 run and appeared to be on the verge of turning the game into a runaway when a basket by Miller put Morningside up by 15 points, 48-33, with 12:30 left in the game.
The Red Raiders came back again and went on a 9-0 run to close within 48-42 on a basket by Kami Kuhlmann with 10:42 left to play.
The Mustangs eventually built their lead back to 11 points on two occasions, the last time at 59-48 after a pair of free throws by Bartel with 4:05 left. The closest the Red Raiders came after that was four points, 62-58, after Kuhlmann made the front end of a two-shot foul with 10.9 seconds left.
Box Score
 |
 |
Dani Gass |
Laura Nelson |
Morningside’s No. 1-ranked and undefeated women’s basketball team steamrolled into the Final Four of the NAIA Division II National Tournament with a convincing 72-56 victory against 11th-ranked Black Hills State University in Saturday’s quarterfinals in Sioux City’s Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena.
The Mustangs, who posted their school-record 36th victory of the season, will take their perfect record into a 6 p.m. Monday semifinal against No. 6 Northwestern College. Third-ranked College of the Ozarks and No. 18 Hastings College will square off in the other semifinal in a Final Four that features three teams from the GPAC and the same two semifinal round matchups as a year ago.
Dani Gass and Laura Nelson each scored 18 points to share game scoring honors. Both scored 14 of their points in the first half when the Mustangs built a 39-20 lead at the break. Nelson did most of her scoring from long range with five 3-point field goals in 11 attempts.
Autumn Bartel and Brittany Williamson joined them in double figures with 14 and 13 points, respectively, as Bartel extended her streak to 27 consecutive double figure scoring performances.
Gass, the GPAC Player of the Year, had game-high totals of eight rebounds, six assists, and six steals to compliment her scoring line. Williamson matched her on the boards with eight rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 39-34 Yellow Jacket rebounding advantage.
Katelynn Lamb finished with 10 points to lead the Yellow Jackets, while Brittany Fuhrman, who joined Lamb on the All-Dakota Athletic Conference first-team, was limited to six points and was scoreless in the second half.
Black Hills State had gone 5-1 against the GPAC during the regular season, losing only to Mount Marty, but proved no match for the Mustangs. Morningside never trailed and took the lead for good when Gass scored off an offensive rebound to put the Mustangs ahead 7-5 with 15:41 left in the opening half.
Black Hills State trailed only 17-14 midway through the half before the Mustangs reeled off 14 unanswered points to go up 31-14 to break the game open. After Danielle Bauer made a basket to end the Black Hills State drought, Nelson put the Yellow Jackets away with an eight-point flurry that featured two 3-pointers in a 27-second stretch that increased the Mustangs’ margin to 39-18.
Morningside led 39-20 at the intermission after an opening 20 minutes where the Yellow Jackets turned the ball over 17 times and shot just 31.8 percent from the field and their leading scorer, Lamb, was held to two points on one-for-seven shooting.
Black Hills State’s shooters warmed up in the second half, but still finished at just 38.6 percent for the night to go along with 26 turnovers.
Monday’s Morningside/Northwestern semifinal will be the fourth time the teams have clashed this season. The Mustangs won all three previous meetings, including a 64-56 win in the GPAC Post-Season Tournament championship game on March 3.
Box Score
 |
 |
Leslie Foral |
Dani Gass |
It’s on to the Elite Eight for No. 1-ranked Morningside after it led for almost the entire game in a 71-57 triumph against No. 16 Bethel College in Friday’s second round action of the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Tournament in Sioux City’s Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena.
The Mustangs, who tied a school record with their 35th victory of the season, will take a perfect 35-0 record into a quarterfinal round game against No. 11 Black Hills State University on Saturday at 8 p.m.
Bethel, which had its national tournament run end with a loss against a team from the GPAC for the fourth time in the last five years, had bowed out in the quarterfinals each of the past four seasons.
Morningside, despite shooting a woeful 31.3 percent from the field, trailed only once against the Mid-Central Conference champions in moving on. The Lady Pilot’s only lead came when Heather Seyfred opened the game’s scoring with a 3-pointer.
The Mustangs compensated for their cold shooting performance by turning the ball over only nine times compared to 23 miscues by their opponent and by outrebounding the Lady Pilots by a 50-41 margin. The Mustangs held Mid-Central Conference Player of the Year Amber Peters, who entered the game as the fourth leading rebounder in the nation with an average of 11.8 caroms per game, to only five rebounds.
Laura Nelson scored 15 points to lead a group of four Mustangs in double figures. Autumn Bartel was next with 13 points for her 26th consecutive double figure scoring performance, followed by Brittany Williamson with 12 tallies and Dani Gass with 10 points. Gass, the GPAC Player of the Year, also had 10 rebounds to register her ninth double-double of the season.
The Mustangs’ leading rebounder, though, was junior guard Leslie Foral, who collected a career-high 13 rebounds to shatter her previous best of 10 caroms against Mount Marty College during the GPAC Post-Season Tournament.
Bekah Basinger led Bethel with 19 points, while Seyfred, a transfer from NCAA Division I Indiana State University who was Michigan’s Class C scoring leader as a prep senior at Bridgman High School, was next with 17 tallies. Mandy Yoder, a transfer from NCAA Division II Ferris State University, added 16 points and Kelsy McKee had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Peters, a transfer from NCAA II Grand Valley State University, was limited to four points, but did lead all performers with five assists.
After Seyfred’s 3-pointer gave the Lady Pilots a 3-0 lead, the Mustangs answered with a 10-point run that featured 3-pointers by Nelson and Bartel to go up 10-3. Bethel rallied within 10-8 after a 3-pointer and a layup by Yoder, but by the 10:30 mark the Mustangs had increased their lead to 10 points, 18-8, on a baseline jumper by Katie Sponder.
The Mustangs built their advantage to 18 points by the intermission on a four-point play with 37.1 seconds left when Gass made a layup while shaken up on an intentional foul by Yoder that forced her to leave the game. Kayla Weerheim entered the game to shoot the free throws for Gass and converted both to make the score 36-18 going into the break.
Morningside eventually increased its lead to 27 points, 57-30, in the second half before the Lady Pilots went on a 21-5 run to close within 62-51 on a 3-pointer by Seyfred with 5:11 left.
Drives to the basket by Gass and Foral, followed by a steal and layup by Bartel, squashed the Bethel rally and built the Mustangs’ lead back up to 68-53.
Box Score
 |
 |
Autumn Bartel |
Erica Luetje |
Morningside advanced to the second round of the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Tournament with an 83-41 victory over the University of Maine-Fort Kent on Wednesday night in Sioux City’s Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena.
The No. 1-ranked Mustangs improved their record to 34-0 and will face Bethel College of Indiana in a second round contest on Friday at 5:15 p.m. The 16th-ranked Lady Pilots will take a 23-8 record into the contest after they advanced with a 67-63 opening round win against No. 17 Cedarville University.
Maine-Fort Kent, the champions of the Sunrise Conference, bowed out with a 24-5 record and had a school-record 20-game winning streak snapped. The Mustangs’ 83 points were the most the Lady Bengals allowed in a game this season. Maine-Fort Kent had held 19 of its previous 28 opponents to scoring totals of 50 points or less while compiling a defensive scoring average of 46.0 points per game.
Autumn Bartel scored a game-high 19 points for the Mustangs to extend her streak to 25 consecutive games in double figures. Bartel drilled eight of nine floor shots, including three of four attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. Eric Luetje came off the bench to score a career-high 10 points to join Bartel in double figures. Luetje topped her previous high of seven points, which came in the season opener against Mayville State University in the same arena during the Tyson Classic. Mackenzi Mendlik was next with nine points to match her career high.
Dani Gass and Emily Christen each had seven rebounds to lead the Mustangs to a 47-43 advantage against a Lady Bengal team that was leading the nation in team rebounding margin. The seven rebounds by Christen was a career high.
Gass, the GPAC Player of the Year, led all performers with four steals and dealt four assists to share game honors with teammate Kayla Weerheim.
Kristen Violette led the Lady Bengals with 15 points for her 23rd consecutive double figure scoring performance and Ashley Ames, the Sunrise Conference Player of the Year, added 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
The Lady Bengals, who suffered a 110-37 opening round loss against College of the Ozarks in last year’s tournament, stayed with the Mustangs for almost five minutes before Morningside went ahead to stay at 7-4 when a Bartel 3-pointer at the 15:05 mark broke a 4-4 tie.
The Mustangs pushed their lead into double figures for the first time when a Weerheim 3-pointer with 14:00 left completed a 10-0 Morningside run to make it 14-4. Morningside increased its lead to 20 points, 31-11, on a steal and layup by Bartel with 6:32 left in the half.
Morningside led 39-17 at the intermission after it shot just 33.3 percent from the field against a Lady Bengal team that entered the contest as the national leader in team field goal percentage defense at 30.3 percent.
The Mustangs started the second half with a 19-2 run to increase their advantage to 58-19 and never looked back.
Box Score
|
