Top-ranked Mustangs move to 5-0
Defense carries Morningside past No. 14 Northwestern
By Barry Poe | Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Morningside's Brittany Williamson shoots as Northwestern's Amy Kallemeyn defends during basketball action at Morningside College Tuesday. (Staff photo by Jim Lee)
With 13 players who are either freshmen or sophomores on its roster, the Northwestern College women's basketball team is truly a work in progress. Morningside, on the other hand, has national championship aspirations.
Morningside, ranked No. 1 in the NAIA Division II preseason poll, used defensive pressure to pull away from 14th-ranked Northwestern, prevailing 89-75 in a non-conference matchup Tuesday night at the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center.
Autumn Bartel tossed in 25 points, one shy of her career high, while Brittany Williamson had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Mustangs, who improved their overall record to 5-0. Laura Nelson was also in double figures with 12 points, nailing four three-pointers in the second half.
Northwestern's Becca Hurley was the game's leading scorer with 28 points while freshman Kami Kuhlmann chipped in 14. Hurley, a sophomore, has played in just four of the Red Raiders' six games since joining the team at the conclusion of the soccer season. The loss left Northwestern with a 3-3 overall mark.
Leading 18-17 at the midway point of the first half, Morningside outscored the Red Raiders 33-11 the rest of the half, breaking for intermission with a 51-28 cushion. The lead swelled to 66-35 just four minutes into the second half, but Northwestern went on a 15-0 spurt, mainly against Morningside reserves, to make the final outcome respectable.
Morningside forced 22 first-half turnovers and 31 for the game, turning a good share of those into easy layups.
"It's still the preseason as far as we're concerned," said Northwestern Coach Earl Woudstra, who lost all five starters from last year's national championship team. "Jamie and I talked last year about scheduling these non-conference games and I think we both felt playing them would help make our teams better. It seems kind of silly to be only 50 miles a way and not play a second time.
"With these really young kids, it's probably a real difficult challenge for them. Morningside definitely put the wood on us in the first half. I think they're going to have a really good team and you can't make all those turnovers against them because that's what creates all the energy for them."
Bartel had 18 points before intermission and Williamson 16. The Mustangs wound up shooting 37 of 71 from the field for 52.1 percent. Bartel's career-high of 26 points also came against Northwestern on March 4, 2008.
"We forced a ton of turnovers in the first half and a lot of it had to do with our pressure, but also a lot to do with them being young and never being pressured like that before," said Morningside Coach Jamie Sale. "When you have a young team, you have to go through it a couple times to see what it's like.
"I was really happy with how we came out. The score was 18-18 or something like that and then we made a really nice run at that point and were playing really good defense. Now we just have to take care of when we have a team down like that we can't let them back in the game.
"We've done that two or three times this year. We've had teams pretty much buried and then go to our bench and have the lead evaporate very quick, so that's something we need to take care of."
Morningside and Northwestern play just one more time during the regular season, a Great Plains Athletic Conference game on Feb. 18 in Orange City.
"I was proud of the way they kept battling and didn't quit," said Woudstra. "Our goal is to keep getting better and see growth in those young kids and hopefully when we get into January and February maybe we can compete with some good teams."
Morningside plays Indiana Wesleyan, ranked No. 8 in Division II, in the Viterbo NAIA Showcase in LaCrosse, Wis., on Friday.
NORTHWESTERN (75)
Kristin Neth 3-7 1-1 8, Kami Kuhlmann 5-10 1-2 14, Val Kleinjan 1-10 0-0 2, Andrea Wedel 1-3 4-4 6, Amy Kallemeyn 1-1 3-5 5, Becca Hurley 10-14 2-2 28, Katie Nieuwsma 4-5 0-0 9, Anna Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Allison Hulst 1-2 1-2 3, Jessica Wedel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 12-16 75.
MORNINGSIDE (89)
Dani Gass 3-7 0-0 6, Leslie Foral 2-3 2-2 6, Autumn Bartel 10-17 3-4 25, Laura Nelson 4-0 0-0 12, Brittany Williamson 10-17 0-0 20, Katie Sponder 3-9 0-0 6, Roni Miller 2-3 1-4 6, Kayla Weerheim 1-2 0-0 2, Erica Luetje 1-2 0-0 3, Nicole Van Heek 0-1 0-0 0, Sarah Culp 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 37-71 6-10 89.
Halftime -- Morningside 51, Northwestern 28. 3-point shots -- Northwestern 11-23 (Hurley 6-10, Kuhlmann 3-5, Neth 1-3, Nieuwsma 1-1, Kleinjan 0-3, A. Wedel 0-1), Morningside 9-24 (Nelson 4-9, Bartel 2-5, Culp 1-1, Luetje 1-1, Miller 1-1, Sponder 0-2, Gass 0-1, Foral 0-1, Williamson 0-1, Van Heek 0-1, Weerheim 0-1). Rebounds -- Northwestern 36 (Kallemeyn 9), Morningside 32 (Williamson 7). Assists -- Northwestern 15 (Hurley 4, Nieuwsma 4), Morningside 29 (Gass 12). Turnovers -- Northwestern 31, Morningside 18. Total fouls -- Northwestern 13, Morningside 18. Fouled out -- None. Officials -- Cami Becker, Troy Test, Darin Berg.
Morningside, ranked No. 1 in the NAIA Division II preseason poll, used defensive pressure to pull away from 14th-ranked Northwestern, prevailing 89-75 in a non-conference matchup Tuesday night at the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center.
Autumn Bartel tossed in 25 points, one shy of her career high, while Brittany Williamson had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Mustangs, who improved their overall record to 5-0. Laura Nelson was also in double figures with 12 points, nailing four three-pointers in the second half.
Northwestern's Becca Hurley was the game's leading scorer with 28 points while freshman Kami Kuhlmann chipped in 14. Hurley, a sophomore, has played in just four of the Red Raiders' six games since joining the team at the conclusion of the soccer season. The loss left Northwestern with a 3-3 overall mark.
Leading 18-17 at the midway point of the first half, Morningside outscored the Red Raiders 33-11 the rest of the half, breaking for intermission with a 51-28 cushion. The lead swelled to 66-35 just four minutes into the second half, but Northwestern went on a 15-0 spurt, mainly against Morningside reserves, to make the final outcome respectable.
Morningside forced 22 first-half turnovers and 31 for the game, turning a good share of those into easy layups.
"It's still the preseason as far as we're concerned," said Northwestern Coach Earl Woudstra, who lost all five starters from last year's national championship team. "Jamie and I talked last year about scheduling these non-conference games and I think we both felt playing them would help make our teams better. It seems kind of silly to be only 50 miles a way and not play a second time.
"With these really young kids, it's probably a real difficult challenge for them. Morningside definitely put the wood on us in the first half. I think they're going to have a really good team and you can't make all those turnovers against them because that's what creates all the energy for them."
Bartel had 18 points before intermission and Williamson 16. The Mustangs wound up shooting 37 of 71 from the field for 52.1 percent. Bartel's career-high of 26 points also came against Northwestern on March 4, 2008.
"We forced a ton of turnovers in the first half and a lot of it had to do with our pressure, but also a lot to do with them being young and never being pressured like that before," said Morningside Coach Jamie Sale. "When you have a young team, you have to go through it a couple times to see what it's like.
"I was really happy with how we came out. The score was 18-18 or something like that and then we made a really nice run at that point and were playing really good defense. Now we just have to take care of when we have a team down like that we can't let them back in the game.
"We've done that two or three times this year. We've had teams pretty much buried and then go to our bench and have the lead evaporate very quick, so that's something we need to take care of."
Morningside and Northwestern play just one more time during the regular season, a Great Plains Athletic Conference game on Feb. 18 in Orange City.
"I was proud of the way they kept battling and didn't quit," said Woudstra. "Our goal is to keep getting better and see growth in those young kids and hopefully when we get into January and February maybe we can compete with some good teams."
Morningside plays Indiana Wesleyan, ranked No. 8 in Division II, in the Viterbo NAIA Showcase in LaCrosse, Wis., on Friday.
NORTHWESTERN (75)
Kristin Neth 3-7 1-1 8, Kami Kuhlmann 5-10 1-2 14, Val Kleinjan 1-10 0-0 2, Andrea Wedel 1-3 4-4 6, Amy Kallemeyn 1-1 3-5 5, Becca Hurley 10-14 2-2 28, Katie Nieuwsma 4-5 0-0 9, Anna Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Allison Hulst 1-2 1-2 3, Jessica Wedel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 12-16 75.
MORNINGSIDE (89)
Dani Gass 3-7 0-0 6, Leslie Foral 2-3 2-2 6, Autumn Bartel 10-17 3-4 25, Laura Nelson 4-0 0-0 12, Brittany Williamson 10-17 0-0 20, Katie Sponder 3-9 0-0 6, Roni Miller 2-3 1-4 6, Kayla Weerheim 1-2 0-0 2, Erica Luetje 1-2 0-0 3, Nicole Van Heek 0-1 0-0 0, Sarah Culp 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 37-71 6-10 89.
Halftime -- Morningside 51, Northwestern 28. 3-point shots -- Northwestern 11-23 (Hurley 6-10, Kuhlmann 3-5, Neth 1-3, Nieuwsma 1-1, Kleinjan 0-3, A. Wedel 0-1), Morningside 9-24 (Nelson 4-9, Bartel 2-5, Culp 1-1, Luetje 1-1, Miller 1-1, Sponder 0-2, Gass 0-1, Foral 0-1, Williamson 0-1, Van Heek 0-1, Weerheim 0-1). Rebounds -- Northwestern 36 (Kallemeyn 9), Morningside 32 (Williamson 7). Assists -- Northwestern 15 (Hurley 4, Nieuwsma 4), Morningside 29 (Gass 12). Turnovers -- Northwestern 31, Morningside 18. Total fouls -- Northwestern 13, Morningside 18. Fouled out -- None. Officials -- Cami Becker, Troy Test, Darin Berg.
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