No. 7 Morningside women cruise past Dana
By Barry Poe Journal sports writer | Posted: Sunday, December 09, 2007
A loud cheer rose from the Dana College cheering section when the Vikings won the opening tip of Saturday's Great Plains Athletic Conference women's basketball game with Morningside at the Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center-Allee Gym.
That's about the only thing they had to cheer about the rest of the game.
Morningside, ranked No. 7 in NAIA Division II, rolled to an 85-60 victory, improving its all-time record against the Blair, Neb.-based collegians to 7-0.
Five players reached double figures for the Mustangs, who improved to 10-2 overall and 4-0 in the GPAC. Morningside and Northwestern (3-0) are the only unbeaten teams in the league while Hastings and Doane each have 4-1 marks.
Kristi Tighe continued her torrid shooting, scoring a game-high 18 points in a reserve role for Morningside. Returning All-American Dani Gass and J.J. Hall added 15 points each, Autumn Bartel 12 and Brittany Williamson 11.
Dana, dropping its sixth game in a row, fell to 4-8 overall and 0-4 in the GPAC. Tricia Trotter led the Vikings with 11 points.
A 19-0 run helped Morningside race to a 21-4 lead at the midway point of the first half. Dana, though, made a nice run before intermission, cutting the deficit to 38-28.
The Mustangs erased all doubts, however, by scoring the first 12 points of the first half. Morningside led by as many as 30 points, 69-39, with nine minutes remaining.
"We made a couple of adjustments in our press so we could pressure them a little more and we got some early steals," said Morningside Coach Jamie Sale of his team's success to start the second half. "At halftime, we just talked about how we had to maintain our concentration. We got them down, then let them back in, but credit them, they played with a lot of enthusiasm the whole game and didn't give up.
"We didn't shoot the ball particularly well from the perimeter, but they played fairly hard. We just have to do a better job of staying consistent and not being up and down during a game."
Hall, a 5-9 sophomore from Exeter, Neb., scored eight of the 12 points in the opening three minutes of the second half.
"Jamie came in at halftime and gave us a little pep talk and told us we had to pick it up and go hard," said Hall. "We wanted to try and pressure them because we knew they would try to pass through the press. We wanted to force the dribble and I think we accomplished that today."
Morningside forced 31 turnovers and scored 12 fast break points.
"We had a hard time scoring early in the game, but we chipped away a little before halftime," said Dana Coach Brenda Mechels. "They can definitely shoot the ball and they came out in the second half and showed that.
"I thought our kids played with a lot of energy and effort, we just went through a spell there in the second half when we couldn't score and they could."
Gass and Leslie Foral snared seven rebounds apiece as Morningside held a 37-29 advantage. Gass and Bartel dished out six assists each.
Morningside is looking forward to its next assignment, the Hoop N Surf Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, Dec. 19-20.
DANA (60)
Amy Nichol 4-6 0-1 8, Erin Bazata 1-5 0-0 2, Heidi Gowery 1-3 0-0 3, Chelsey Williams 2-3 2-2 6, Jillian Bryant 3-5 2-3 8, Tricia Trotter 5-11 0-0 11, Amanda Bryant 1-3 4-7 6, Kayla Hofstetter 0-0 1-2 1, Megan Parker 2-3 0-0 4, Megan Finn 1-3 0-0 3, Kalen Carlson 0-0 0-2 0, Megan Gerdes 2-3 0-0 5, Allie Oestmann 0-0 0-0 0, Denisa Larreau 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Brooks 1-1 1-1 3. Totals 23-46 10-18 60.
MORNINGSIDE (85)
Dani Gass 6-9 2-2 15, Leslie Foral 3-5 0-0 6, Autumn Bartel 5-10 1-2 12, J.J. Hall 5-11 2-2 15, Brittany Williamson 5-12 1-2 11, Kristi Tighe 7-13 1-1 18, Roni Miller 1-3 2-3 4, Laura Nelson 0-4 0-0 0, Kayla Weerheim 0-0 0-0 0, Kim Hassler 0-0 0-2 0, Katie Sponder 1-1 2-2 4, Mackenzi Mendlik 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-68 11-16 85.
Halftime -- Morningside 38, Dana 28. Three-point shots -- Dana 4-11 (Trotter 1-5, Gowery 1-2, Finn 1-2, Gerdes 1-1, Nichol 0-1), Morningside 8-28 (Hall 3-9, Tighe 3-9, Bartel 1-3, Gass 1-2, Nelson 0-4, Williamson 0-1). Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- Dana 29 (Nichol 5), Morningside 37 (Gass 7, Foral 7). Assists -- Dana 15 (J. Bryant 3, Trotter 3), Morningside 24 (Gass 6, Bartel 6). Turnovers -- Dana 31, Morningside 16. Total fouls -- Dana 19, Morningside 19.
That's about the only thing they had to cheer about the rest of the game.
Morningside, ranked No. 7 in NAIA Division II, rolled to an 85-60 victory, improving its all-time record against the Blair, Neb.-based collegians to 7-0.
Five players reached double figures for the Mustangs, who improved to 10-2 overall and 4-0 in the GPAC. Morningside and Northwestern (3-0) are the only unbeaten teams in the league while Hastings and Doane each have 4-1 marks.
Kristi Tighe continued her torrid shooting, scoring a game-high 18 points in a reserve role for Morningside. Returning All-American Dani Gass and J.J. Hall added 15 points each, Autumn Bartel 12 and Brittany Williamson 11.
Dana, dropping its sixth game in a row, fell to 4-8 overall and 0-4 in the GPAC. Tricia Trotter led the Vikings with 11 points.
A 19-0 run helped Morningside race to a 21-4 lead at the midway point of the first half. Dana, though, made a nice run before intermission, cutting the deficit to 38-28.
The Mustangs erased all doubts, however, by scoring the first 12 points of the first half. Morningside led by as many as 30 points, 69-39, with nine minutes remaining.
"We made a couple of adjustments in our press so we could pressure them a little more and we got some early steals," said Morningside Coach Jamie Sale of his team's success to start the second half. "At halftime, we just talked about how we had to maintain our concentration. We got them down, then let them back in, but credit them, they played with a lot of enthusiasm the whole game and didn't give up.
"We didn't shoot the ball particularly well from the perimeter, but they played fairly hard. We just have to do a better job of staying consistent and not being up and down during a game."
Hall, a 5-9 sophomore from Exeter, Neb., scored eight of the 12 points in the opening three minutes of the second half.
"Jamie came in at halftime and gave us a little pep talk and told us we had to pick it up and go hard," said Hall. "We wanted to try and pressure them because we knew they would try to pass through the press. We wanted to force the dribble and I think we accomplished that today."
Morningside forced 31 turnovers and scored 12 fast break points.
"We had a hard time scoring early in the game, but we chipped away a little before halftime," said Dana Coach Brenda Mechels. "They can definitely shoot the ball and they came out in the second half and showed that.
"I thought our kids played with a lot of energy and effort, we just went through a spell there in the second half when we couldn't score and they could."
Gass and Leslie Foral snared seven rebounds apiece as Morningside held a 37-29 advantage. Gass and Bartel dished out six assists each.
Morningside is looking forward to its next assignment, the Hoop N Surf Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, Dec. 19-20.
DANA (60)
Amy Nichol 4-6 0-1 8, Erin Bazata 1-5 0-0 2, Heidi Gowery 1-3 0-0 3, Chelsey Williams 2-3 2-2 6, Jillian Bryant 3-5 2-3 8, Tricia Trotter 5-11 0-0 11, Amanda Bryant 1-3 4-7 6, Kayla Hofstetter 0-0 1-2 1, Megan Parker 2-3 0-0 4, Megan Finn 1-3 0-0 3, Kalen Carlson 0-0 0-2 0, Megan Gerdes 2-3 0-0 5, Allie Oestmann 0-0 0-0 0, Denisa Larreau 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Brooks 1-1 1-1 3. Totals 23-46 10-18 60.
MORNINGSIDE (85)
Dani Gass 6-9 2-2 15, Leslie Foral 3-5 0-0 6, Autumn Bartel 5-10 1-2 12, J.J. Hall 5-11 2-2 15, Brittany Williamson 5-12 1-2 11, Kristi Tighe 7-13 1-1 18, Roni Miller 1-3 2-3 4, Laura Nelson 0-4 0-0 0, Kayla Weerheim 0-0 0-0 0, Kim Hassler 0-0 0-2 0, Katie Sponder 1-1 2-2 4, Mackenzi Mendlik 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-68 11-16 85.
Halftime -- Morningside 38, Dana 28. Three-point shots -- Dana 4-11 (Trotter 1-5, Gowery 1-2, Finn 1-2, Gerdes 1-1, Nichol 0-1), Morningside 8-28 (Hall 3-9, Tighe 3-9, Bartel 1-3, Gass 1-2, Nelson 0-4, Williamson 0-1). Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- Dana 29 (Nichol 5), Morningside 37 (Gass 7, Foral 7). Assists -- Dana 15 (J. Bryant 3, Trotter 3), Morningside 24 (Gass 6, Bartel 6). Turnovers -- Dana 31, Morningside 16. Total fouls -- Dana 19, Morningside 19.
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