Road Roll - Top 10 NAIA battle goes way of Mustangs

SIOUX CENTER, IOWA – A monstrous 40-11 run over the final 13:30 of the first half tipped the scales of a pivotal Great Plains Athletic Conference battle Saturday, Jan. 18

Visiting Morningside College, ranked No. 7 on the latest National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' Division II poll, rebounded from an eight-point deficit midway through the first quarter behind that epic surge to hold a large 50-29 halftime cushion at No. 9-ranked Dordt University's DeWitt Gymnasium. Head coach Jamie Sale's squad, improving to 17-4 overall and 11-2 in the conference with their sixth successive victory, repelled a Defenders' answer attempt in the second half that cut the margin to 14 by scoring 18 of the game's final 25 points over the last eight minutes for a convincing 90-65 win.

Junior guard Sierra Mitchell (JR/Pleasant Hill, IA) (Pleasant Hill, Iowa) led four Mustangs in double figures. Adding another game to her string of consecutive double-digit contests (eight) and successive outings with multiple three-point baskets (18), she finished an impressive night with 30 points which included five treys to go with four assists and a pair of steals. Senior forward/center Sydney Hupp (SR/O'Neill, NE) (O'Neill, Neb.) added 19, five rebounds, two assists, one steal, and a blocked shot; sophomore forward Sophia Peppers (SO/Exira, IA) (Exira, Iowa), hitting double digits for the 13^th time in her last 14 opportunities, registered 13 points, grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds and dished out four assists; and senior guard Jordyn Moser (SR/Harlan, IA) (Harlan, Iowa) added 10 points to go with five assists, which was good for a team leader spot, and four rebounds. Sophomore forward Taylor Rodenburgh (SO/Hawarden, IA) (Hawarden, Iowa) nearly made it five in points' double figures with nine while compiling six boards.

Mside's stifling pressure defense contributed to the outcome. The Maroon had a helping hand in 28 home team turnovers and limited the Defenders to less than 40 percent overall field goal shooting and a tepid 14.3 percent effort from beyond the arc.

Morningside wraps up a brief two-game road set Wednesday, Jan. 22. It's another loop top 10 meeting with a trip to Seward, Neb., and Concordia University's Walz Performance Center on the docket. Game time is 6 p.m.

NOTES: Mitchell's eight-game double-figure binge brings a gaudy average (18.3 ppg) over the span with it. She is 14 points from becoming the 17^th player in program history with 1300-or-more … Hupp is also moving in on a milestone. She is 11 points short of becoming the 13^th player in school history with 1400-or-more … Peppers is developing an impressive stat line in her last 14 appearances. She's averaging better than 12 points and six rebounds and more than two assists and steals per outing over the stretch.