SIOUX CITY -- The long trip from Grand Rapids, Mich., to the Morningside Classic was well worth it for the Davenport University women's basketball team.

Davenport, No. 3 in the NAIA Division II preseason poll, suffered a two-point loss to fourth-ranked Hastings on Friday night, but bounced back for a 78-64 triumph over host and top-rated Morningside on Saturday.

It was the first victory over a Great Plains Athletic Conference team for Davenport, a young but talented squad that returned its top seven scorers from a 31-3 team that reached the Elite Eight of the Division II national tournament.

"We have some kids who have lost these games and they've learned from those losses," said Davenport Coach Mark Youngs, who has had his team in Sioux City for the national tournament each of the last five seasons. "I'm hoping we're ready to take the next step."

Although an experienced team, Davenport has no seniors and just five juniors on its roster.

"We named (Kallie) Benike and (Kristi) Boehm captains the day they arrived on campus as freshmen. You could tell they were just special kids and they're juniors now and two very good leaders."

Benike, a 5-8 junior guard and returning first-team All-American, scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out six assists. Boehm, a 5-5 junior guard and an honorable mention All-American, tacked on 12 points and seven rebounds. Jeannie Closson, a 6-foot-3 junior transfer from Kalamazoo Valley Community College, led the Panthers with 15 points.

Morningside, the defending national champion trying to rebuild after losing two first-team All-Americans, slipped to 2-3 overall and had an 18-game home winning streak snapped. The Mustangs, who lost their first two games at Minot State and Dickinson State before winning two in a row at home, struggled mightily from the field.

A 15-for-50 performance (30 percent) included a 4-for-25 effort in the first half, or a dismal 16 percent. Morningside, which wound up only 2-for-22 from three-point range, missed its first 15 shots from beyond the arc.

"They didn't shoot real well, but they didn't have very many open looks," said Youngs. "We were 6-for-24 from threes, so it's not like we ripped up the nets, but the girls played great defense and played hard.

"We kind of over-recruited good kids and I feel bad for the girls who don't get in there as much, but the depth and talent we have will help us when March rolls around."

Davenport has been eliminated from the national tournament by a GPAC school four of the last five years.

Redshirt freshman Chelsie Trask led Morningside with 15 points while senior Leslie Foral was also in double figures with 14 points. The Mustangs were 32 of 38 from the free throw line.

"They're a very good team and they were very aggressive defensively," said Morningside Coach Jamie Sale. "We obviously didn't shoot the ball very well. I never thought that would be a problem with this team. We have such good shooters, but we started out missing a few threes and maybe started overthinking a little bit and they played better than us.

"I think we're very equal as teams, but they performed better than us. We just need to keep on working to improve. We're 2-3 now and if we can keep working to where we can get it together for the conference and get to the Final Four, people will forget what we were at the start of the year."

Davenport zipped to a 9-0 lead and forced the Mustangs to play catchup the rest of the way. Morningside, though, simply couldn't find the basket and trailed 34-26 at intermission. Back-to-back three-pointers by Carrie Grubius got Davenport off to another fast start in the second half and the closest Morningside came was eight points the rest of the game.

The Mustangs play at Grand View on Friday.

DAVENPORT (78)

Janelle Bagneski 0-3 2-3 2, Kristi Boehm 2-9 7-8 12, Carrie Grubius 3-9 0-1 8, Kallie Benike 2-6 9-11 13, Jeannie Closson 7-10 0-0 15, Abby Neff 4-6 0-0 8, Leah Sevcik 1-2 4-6 7, Brittany Lyman 2-6 0-0 4, Julie Janish 1-4 0-0 2, Lauren Malinowski 1-3 0-0 3, Kristina Cousins 0-1 0-0 0, Raina Chambers 2-2 0-0 4, Katelyn Cousins 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 22-29 78.

MORNINGSIDE (64)

Chelsie Trask 2-6 10-12 15, Tanaeya Worden 2-7 2-3 7, Leslie Foral 3-7 8-10 14, Laura Nelson 1-8 2-2 4, Brittany Williamson 3-6 2-2 8, Katie Sponder 1-7 7-8 9, MacKenzi Mendlik 0-1 0-0 0, Brittany Alfredson 0-1 0-0 0, Roni Miller 2-4 0-0 4, Shelby Beaudette 1-2 1-1 3, Bobbi McManaman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-50 32-38 64.

Halftime -- Davenport 34, Morningside 26. 3-point shots -- Davenport 6-24 (Grubius 2-6, Boehm 1-6, Malinowski 1-3, Closson 1-1, Sevcik 1-1, Bagneski 0-2, Benike 0-1, Kr. Cousins 0-1, Neff 0-1, Lyman 0-1, Kat. Cousins 0-1), Morningside 2-22 (Trask 1-5, Worden 1-5, Nelson 0-7, Foral 0-1, Beaudette 0-1, McManaman 0-1, Sponder 0-1, Alfredson 0-1). Rebounds -- Davenport 41 (Boehm 7), Morningside 39 (Foral 7, Williamson 7, Miller 7). Assists -- Davenport 14 (Boehm 4, Benike 4), Morningside 5 (Five players with 1). Turnovers -- Davenport 23, Morningside 26. Total fouls -- Davenport 30, Morningside 25. Fouled out -- Lyman, Closson, Worden, Miller. Technical -- Davenport coach. Officials -- Keith Ballinger, Mike Klinedint, Jeff Sylliaasen.