Mustangs throttle Northwestern
By Terry Hersom Journal sports editor | Posted: Thursday, January 04, 2007
Jamie Sale has never doubted the talent on this young Morningside College women's basketball team.
His faith in the Mustangs wasn't shaken when defending NAIA Division II national champion Hastings dealt them a 22-point loss last Thursday.
And, he was anything but discouraged by an overtime road loss two nights later at Ottawa University of Kansas.
Starting three sophomores and two freshmen, Sale is thoroughly prepared for a season of ups and downs.
Wednesday night was definitely one of the former as Morningside blew out to a quick 20-3 lead and didn't look back, throttling fourth-ranked Northwestern 88-63 at Allee Gym.
Sophomore guard Dani Gass piled up 12 assists to go with 16 points as Morningside pulled into a share of first place in the powerful Great Plains Athletic Conference, handing Northwestern its first GPAC loss in seven starts.
Connecting 15 times in a whopping 38 tries from three-point range, the Mustangs were led by junior Kristi Tighe's 18 points off the bench, all on six three-pointers, and 17 points more by freshman starter J.J. Hall.
Gass also had four of her team's 20 steals in a game that saw Northwestern self-destruct with 34 turnovers - 17 in either half.
"I've known all along we had the talent to play well,'' said Sale, whose team is a modest 11-5 overall but now 6-1 in the league that has produced six straight NAIA Division II national champions.
"With a young team, early in the year they didn't really believe in themselves yet. Now, if we can gain some confidence and some consistency, we could be very tough in March.''
March, of course, is another national tournament at the Tyson Events Center, where Sales's teams won back-to-back titles before a disappointing second-round exit last year.
The loss to Hastings last week, a rare home setback, was actually a non-conference clash with the GPAC rival that replaced Morningside as national champ last season. It was the type of game Sale believed would be helpful to his team, win or lose.
Evidently, it was.
"We're coming together, we just have to play hard at all times,'' said Gass, who had 14 points to lead her team to a 47-29 halftime cushion. "Everyone played together tonight. We had intensity. The past few games, we didn't have that.''
The difference was obvious from the outset. Morningside hit its first four shots, including two treys, and had a quick 10-2 lead that mushroomed into a 34-11 bulge after 11 minutes and then a 42-18 margin with 4:39 left in the half.
Northwestern (13-4, 6-1) was never closer than 16 the rest of the way and Morningside opened up an 84-49 bulge before a 12-0 run by deep reserves helped the Raiders make the final count less one-sided.
"What they do, they do really well,'' said Northwestern Coach Earl Woudstra. "We led to their energy with our mistakes. Jamie does a great job of getting his kids to play hard.''
Deb Remmerde, Northwestern's record-breaking junior All-American, was the only double-figure scorer for Woudstra's team with 14 points, barely half her season average of 27.7, second best in NAIA Division II.
Miranda Boekhout was next for the Raiders with nine points and backup center Randa Hulstein, a freshman from Sioux Center, had a game-high eight rebounds in a non-starting role.
Tighe, a University of South Dakota transfer from Homer, Neb., went 6 of 12 from three-point range, following up on a previous season high of 15 points at Ottawa, where she made four of five from outside the arc.
Morningside's five-game tour of Top 25 foes continues Saturday at Doane and concludes next Wednesday, when the Mustangs' attempt to avenge their lone GPAC loss (70-60) in a home game with Mount Marty.
His faith in the Mustangs wasn't shaken when defending NAIA Division II national champion Hastings dealt them a 22-point loss last Thursday.
And, he was anything but discouraged by an overtime road loss two nights later at Ottawa University of Kansas.
Starting three sophomores and two freshmen, Sale is thoroughly prepared for a season of ups and downs.
Wednesday night was definitely one of the former as Morningside blew out to a quick 20-3 lead and didn't look back, throttling fourth-ranked Northwestern 88-63 at Allee Gym.
Sophomore guard Dani Gass piled up 12 assists to go with 16 points as Morningside pulled into a share of first place in the powerful Great Plains Athletic Conference, handing Northwestern its first GPAC loss in seven starts.
Connecting 15 times in a whopping 38 tries from three-point range, the Mustangs were led by junior Kristi Tighe's 18 points off the bench, all on six three-pointers, and 17 points more by freshman starter J.J. Hall.
Gass also had four of her team's 20 steals in a game that saw Northwestern self-destruct with 34 turnovers - 17 in either half.
"I've known all along we had the talent to play well,'' said Sale, whose team is a modest 11-5 overall but now 6-1 in the league that has produced six straight NAIA Division II national champions.
"With a young team, early in the year they didn't really believe in themselves yet. Now, if we can gain some confidence and some consistency, we could be very tough in March.''
March, of course, is another national tournament at the Tyson Events Center, where Sales's teams won back-to-back titles before a disappointing second-round exit last year.
The loss to Hastings last week, a rare home setback, was actually a non-conference clash with the GPAC rival that replaced Morningside as national champ last season. It was the type of game Sale believed would be helpful to his team, win or lose.
Evidently, it was.
"We're coming together, we just have to play hard at all times,'' said Gass, who had 14 points to lead her team to a 47-29 halftime cushion. "Everyone played together tonight. We had intensity. The past few games, we didn't have that.''
The difference was obvious from the outset. Morningside hit its first four shots, including two treys, and had a quick 10-2 lead that mushroomed into a 34-11 bulge after 11 minutes and then a 42-18 margin with 4:39 left in the half.
Northwestern (13-4, 6-1) was never closer than 16 the rest of the way and Morningside opened up an 84-49 bulge before a 12-0 run by deep reserves helped the Raiders make the final count less one-sided.
"What they do, they do really well,'' said Northwestern Coach Earl Woudstra. "We led to their energy with our mistakes. Jamie does a great job of getting his kids to play hard.''
Deb Remmerde, Northwestern's record-breaking junior All-American, was the only double-figure scorer for Woudstra's team with 14 points, barely half her season average of 27.7, second best in NAIA Division II.
Miranda Boekhout was next for the Raiders with nine points and backup center Randa Hulstein, a freshman from Sioux Center, had a game-high eight rebounds in a non-starting role.
Tighe, a University of South Dakota transfer from Homer, Neb., went 6 of 12 from three-point range, following up on a previous season high of 15 points at Ottawa, where she made four of five from outside the arc.
Morningside's five-game tour of Top 25 foes continues Saturday at Doane and concludes next Wednesday, when the Mustangs' attempt to avenge their lone GPAC loss (70-60) in a home game with Mount Marty.
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