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Mustangs No. 1 In NAIA Pre-Season Poll
Mustangs Picked To Win GPAC Title
 Morningside overcame a chilly shooting performance and a huge rebounding deficit to defeat Grand View University 69-62 in Tuesday's women's basketball action in the Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center.
The No. 1 ranked Mustangs shot only 35.9 percent from the field compared to a 50.0 percent performance by Grand View and were outrebounded by a 47-26 margin. However, the Mustangs turned the ball over only nine times and forced the Vikings into 30 miscues.
The Mustangs, who climbed to 8-0 on the season, defeated the Vikings by a similar score earlier in the season in a 67-62 win at the Grand View Classic.
Dani Gass scored a game-high 19 points for the Mustangs and was joined in double figures by Laura Nelson with 15 points and Autumn Bartel with 12. Nelson did all of her scoring from long range with five 3-point field goals in 14 attempts.
Brittany Williamson added eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Gass dealt a game-high five assists, while Bartel and Leslie Foral shared game honors with four steals.
The Mustangs will open the GPAC portion of their schedule with a home game against Briar Cliff University on Tuesday, Nov. 25.
Box Score
 Morningside College will go into the 2008-09 women’s basketball season as the top ranked team in the nation after the Mustangs were ranked No. 1 in the NAIA Division II pre-season poll released Monday by the NAIA.
The Mustangs, who received 11 of the 12 first place votes, return four starters from a team that finished 33-4 and reached the semifinals of last year’s NAIA Division II National Tournament. Morningside is the defending Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) champion after it won last year’s title with an 18-0 record to become only the second team in history to win the league crown with a perfect record.
College of the Ozarks received the other first place vote.
Five of the top 14 ranked teams in the NAIA II pre-season poll will compete this weekend when Morningside hosts the Tyson Classic on Friday and Saturday in Sioux City’s Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena. The other ranked teams in the field are No. 2 Hastings College, No. 9 Jamestown College, No. 13 Minot State University, and No. 14 Northwestern College.
Click here for the complete NAIA II pre-season poll.
 Morningside has been tabbed the favorite to capture the 2008-09 GPAC regular season championship in the GPAC Coaches' Pre-Season Poll.
The Mustangs return four starters from a team that finished 33-4 last season and won the GPAC with an 18-0 league record to become only the second team in conference history to run the table.
Morningside has won at least a share of four consecutive GPAC regular season championships.
Poll Results
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