Determined effort closes 2018-19

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Battling to the wire was the modus operandi of Morningside College Wednesday, March 6.

A game that featured 193 points, the most of any the eight first day contests at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' Division II tourney … 32 successful field conversions for both teams, a combined 22 made three-point baskets and so much more offense for the crowd inside the Tyson Events Center eventually went to third-seeded University of Antelope Valley 100-93. In the end, the main difference between the two squads was a Pioneer team that had five players end in double figures while the sixth-seeded Mustangs finished with three.

Junior forward/center Sydney Hupp (JR/O'Neill, NE) (O'Neill, Neb.) put in a monstrous effort to keep head coach Jamie Sale's side nearby throughout. Tallying a single-game career-high 35 points, good for her fifth 20-point-plus total of the year, Hupp added six boards to her 13-of-20, 65 percent torrid pace from the field. Junior guard Skyler Snider (JR/Kearney, NE) (Kearney, Neb.) and sophomore guard Sierra Mitchell (SO/Pleasant Hill, IA) (Pleasant Hill, Iowa) put their names on the double-figures' registry, too, with 13 apiece, and Snider added four rebounds, an assist and two steals.

The division's No. 19-ranked team gave 11^th-ranked UAV a test from the opening tip. Overcoming an early run in which the Pioneers scored 20 of the game's first 29 points, the sixth-seeded Maroon whittled the deficit down at each turn. They overtook the opposition returning UAV's early favor with a 10-4 stretch to begin the second half that had the Mustangs in front 51-48. What turned out to be a game-deciding 10-0 stretch for Antelope Valley followed, as Mside would close to within three at a few occasions but not return to the lead.

Morningside, closing out its 17^th straight season in the national championships, concluded its 2018-19 campaign with a 19-13 record.