MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE GA M E DAY - M A RC H 2 , 20 21
MUSTANG BASKETBALL Great Plains Athletic Conference Championship Tuesday, presented by Cypress Risk Management, visits Allee Gymnasium and the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center tonight. It’s the first time head coach Jamie Sale’s Morningside College program, the tournament’s top seed has reached the league tourney finale since 2016. Concordia University, the second seed, has become a household name in the finals of late, reaching the round in the last four seasons and winning each of those outings.
THE MATCH-UP The Maroon, as part of its current 19-game win streak, captured both regular-season contests this season. They held off the Bulldogs 66-64 on CU’s home court Jan. 16 on senior guard Faith Meyer’s lay-up with one second left and earned an 86-67 triumph at home in early December. The all-time series annals are very close. Mside has an 18-15 advantage on Concordia, but the two teams have split the last six games. Senior guard Sierra Mitchell posted her fifth 20-point-plus total in the last ten contests on Feb. 27, helping guide the Mustangs past crosstown rival Briar Cliff University 72-59 in the GPAC postseason tournament semifinals. Mitchell’s 20-point, five-assist, two-steal effort marked an afternoon when she moved into fourth on the school’s all-time scoring list (1,970 points). Mitchell wasn’t the only Morningside player hitting a personal milestone. Junior forward Sophia Peppers became the 31st member of the program’s 1000-point club. She went for a double-double of 16 points and ten rebounds to go along with a team-high six assists. It was her fifth double-double of the season. A stingy defensive effort limited fourth-seeded Briar Cliff University to
16-points-or-less in three quarters to move Sale’s squad into the championship. The Mustangs, improving to 25-2, needed every bit of their relentless pressure to overcome a fast start by the crosstown rival Chargers. After they got a vocal home crowd behind them by scoring 17 of the first 24 points, BCU dug down and answered with a 25-12 stretch to hold a 3229 advantage in the closing moments of the first half. However, the Mustangs, as they’ve had a penchant for doing throughout the season, came right back by scoring the final eight points of the half. That roll continued in the third period to the tune of 17-2 and turned out to be the game decider. The visitors didn’t get closer than eight the rest of the way, as the Maroon punched a ticket to the program’s 12th GPAC title tilt. Faith Meyer added her name to the double-figure registry, producing 15 points, including seven of the team’s first 10. Win or lose in tonight’s championship clash, Morningside will advance to its 18th straight National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ tournament. The brackets are scheduled to be released Thursday, March 4.
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS Head coach Drew Olson’s team has reeled off eight straight victories since the narrow two-point defeat at the hands of the Mustangs on Jan. 16. They’ve rolled into the finale, topping Dakota Wesleyan 70-58 in the quarterfinals and using a big first half to upend Northwestern College in the semifinals by an 83-70 count. The guard combination of junior Taylor Cockerill and freshman Taysha Rushton leads the scoring chart. Cockerill averages 14.3 points per outing, with Rushton at 13.9 ppg. The long ball has been a big piece of the CU offensive attack, as five players have hit 20-or-more, including Rushton, who has a team-leading 60. Juniors Mackenzie Koepke and Rylee Pauli have been challenging in the paint. They’ve combined for nearly 40 blocked shots and average better than five rebounds per appearance.