No. 2 Northwestern, No. 3 Morningside collide at Allee
By Barry Poe Journal sports writer | Posted: Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Northwestern College's Miranda Boekhout, left, blocks Morningside College's Megan Cloud's shot Nov. 17, as teammate Deb Remmerde waits for the outcome during game action at Allee Gym. (Sioux City Journal, Jerry Mennenga)
As far as NAIA Division II women's basketball is concerned, they don't get any bigger than tonight's game between second-ranked Northwestern and No. 3 Morningside.
Expect the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center on the Morningside campus to be filled to the rafters when the Red Raiders (26-1) and Mustangs (26-2) collide for the outright lead in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Northwestern and Morningside are each 16-0 in league play.
Tip-off is set for 6 o'clock, with a men's game between No. 18 Northwestern and top-ranked Morningside to follow at 8.
"This is the biggest game we've had in a while, maybe since we played for the national title three years ago," said Morningside Coach Jamie Sale. "Two highly rated teams and whoever wins is in the driver's seat to win the conference. It should be an exciting night."
Morningside is riding a school-record 23-game winning streak since a 70-67 loss in a non-conference game at Northwestern on Nov. 13. Northwestern has won 15 in a row and its only loss is to NCAA Division II Augustana College, 80-64, on Dec. 28 in Sioux Falls.
"It's pretty unusual to get into the last week of the conference season and have two teams who haven't lost, especially in the GPAC," said Northwestern Coach Earl Woudstra. "Going into this week last year, we were going to finish anywhere from first to fifth, so this is pretty unique.
"Morningside is having a great year and they are a great team, so hopefully we can compete."
Northwestern has won the last three meetings between the two schools, including the three-point victory in Orange City earlier this season. Morningside had one of its worst shooting performances in school history, making only 28 percent.
Since then, however, the Mustangs have resembled a runaway freight train.
"What I'm most proud about is the fact that everybody has been talking about this game for a long time, but my team has managed to concentrate through it," said Sale. "We've built some good momentum and are playing the best we have all year at this point in the season.
"When we were 3-2 I never really saw this coming. Most of our wins have been pretty convincing and getting road wins at Concordia and Hastings were big, too. Our conference has won six of the last seven national championships, so it's not easy for us or Northwestern to have gone undefeated the entire season."
Morningside has surpassed 100 points in two of its last three games, including a 115-61 rout of Dana on Saturday. The Mustangs are averaging 86.8 points per game while Northwestern is lighting up the scoreboard to the tune of 90.2 an outing.
It's no secret that Northwestern's offense revolves around Debbie Remmerde, the all-time leading scorer in NAIA Division II women's basketball with 3,555 points. The 5-9 senior from Rock Valley, Iowa, is averaging a nation's best 30.5 points this season and 28.7 for her career and exploded for a school-record 51 points against Doane last Saturday.
"Deb has had great focus," said Woudstra. "There were a couple of those games we literally needed every bucket she hit. She's not trying to do anything crazy, just performing really, really well.
"She's prepared herself well, is probably as fit as she's ever been and is playing with a lot of confidence."
Remmerde, though, has averaged just 17.6 points in nine games against Morningside. The Mustangs have a 5-4 record against Northwestern with Remmerde on the court and the Red Raiders have won only once in five games at Morningside.
"We've done well in the past of limiting her touches and keeping her scoring down," said Sale. "But we also know we have to concentrate and take away other areas of their offense as well. Amy Larson is one of the top players in the conference, too."
Larson, a 5-6 senior guard from Denison, Iowa, is averaging 17.3 points with seven outings of more than 20 points this season.
Morningside has its own All-American in Dani Gass, a 5-10 junior from Sioux City East. The versatile point guard has averaged 12.6 points and 7.6 rebounds for her career.
J.J. Hall, a 5-9 sophomore from Exeter, Neb., is the Mustangs' leading scorer at 13 points per game. Hall was named the GPAC player of the week after reaching a career high with 21 points against both Sioux Falls and Dana last week.
Junior Autumn Bartel is Morningside's second-leading scorer at 12.5 points while Gass contributes 10.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Sophomores Leslie Foral (5-11) and Brittany Williamson (6-foot) are the other two Mustang starters.
Mandy Carr, a 5-9 senior from Sioux Center, joins Remmerde and Larson in Northwestern's back court. Senior Miranda Boekhout (6-foot) averages 5.7 assists per game while Crystal Algood, a 6-foot-4 senior post, leads the team in rebounds at 7.5 while also averaging 3.2 blocked shots.
Expect the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center on the Morningside campus to be filled to the rafters when the Red Raiders (26-1) and Mustangs (26-2) collide for the outright lead in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Northwestern and Morningside are each 16-0 in league play.
Tip-off is set for 6 o'clock, with a men's game between No. 18 Northwestern and top-ranked Morningside to follow at 8.
"This is the biggest game we've had in a while, maybe since we played for the national title three years ago," said Morningside Coach Jamie Sale. "Two highly rated teams and whoever wins is in the driver's seat to win the conference. It should be an exciting night."
Morningside is riding a school-record 23-game winning streak since a 70-67 loss in a non-conference game at Northwestern on Nov. 13. Northwestern has won 15 in a row and its only loss is to NCAA Division II Augustana College, 80-64, on Dec. 28 in Sioux Falls.
"It's pretty unusual to get into the last week of the conference season and have two teams who haven't lost, especially in the GPAC," said Northwestern Coach Earl Woudstra. "Going into this week last year, we were going to finish anywhere from first to fifth, so this is pretty unique.
"Morningside is having a great year and they are a great team, so hopefully we can compete."
Northwestern has won the last three meetings between the two schools, including the three-point victory in Orange City earlier this season. Morningside had one of its worst shooting performances in school history, making only 28 percent.
Since then, however, the Mustangs have resembled a runaway freight train.
"What I'm most proud about is the fact that everybody has been talking about this game for a long time, but my team has managed to concentrate through it," said Sale. "We've built some good momentum and are playing the best we have all year at this point in the season.
"When we were 3-2 I never really saw this coming. Most of our wins have been pretty convincing and getting road wins at Concordia and Hastings were big, too. Our conference has won six of the last seven national championships, so it's not easy for us or Northwestern to have gone undefeated the entire season."
Morningside has surpassed 100 points in two of its last three games, including a 115-61 rout of Dana on Saturday. The Mustangs are averaging 86.8 points per game while Northwestern is lighting up the scoreboard to the tune of 90.2 an outing.
It's no secret that Northwestern's offense revolves around Debbie Remmerde, the all-time leading scorer in NAIA Division II women's basketball with 3,555 points. The 5-9 senior from Rock Valley, Iowa, is averaging a nation's best 30.5 points this season and 28.7 for her career and exploded for a school-record 51 points against Doane last Saturday.
"Deb has had great focus," said Woudstra. "There were a couple of those games we literally needed every bucket she hit. She's not trying to do anything crazy, just performing really, really well.
"She's prepared herself well, is probably as fit as she's ever been and is playing with a lot of confidence."
Remmerde, though, has averaged just 17.6 points in nine games against Morningside. The Mustangs have a 5-4 record against Northwestern with Remmerde on the court and the Red Raiders have won only once in five games at Morningside.
"We've done well in the past of limiting her touches and keeping her scoring down," said Sale. "But we also know we have to concentrate and take away other areas of their offense as well. Amy Larson is one of the top players in the conference, too."
Larson, a 5-6 senior guard from Denison, Iowa, is averaging 17.3 points with seven outings of more than 20 points this season.
Morningside has its own All-American in Dani Gass, a 5-10 junior from Sioux City East. The versatile point guard has averaged 12.6 points and 7.6 rebounds for her career.
J.J. Hall, a 5-9 sophomore from Exeter, Neb., is the Mustangs' leading scorer at 13 points per game. Hall was named the GPAC player of the week after reaching a career high with 21 points against both Sioux Falls and Dana last week.
Junior Autumn Bartel is Morningside's second-leading scorer at 12.5 points while Gass contributes 10.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Sophomores Leslie Foral (5-11) and Brittany Williamson (6-foot) are the other two Mustang starters.
Mandy Carr, a 5-9 senior from Sioux Center, joins Remmerde and Larson in Northwestern's back court. Senior Miranda Boekhout (6-foot) averages 5.7 assists per game while Crystal Algood, a 6-foot-4 senior post, leads the team in rebounds at 7.5 while also averaging 3.2 blocked shots.
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