Semifinals Await - Mustangs set for Thomas More clash

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' Championships No. 5 seed and No. 7-ranked coaches poll Morningside College makes its first Last Four appearance at the national tournament level since the 2014-15 season Monday, March 22.

Head coach Jamie Sale's Mustangs sport a 23-game win streak, the longest since the 2015 national champions reeled off 32 in a row to start the season, and 29-2 record. They take on top-seeded and No. 1 ranked Thomas More University of Kentucky at 6 p.m. at the Tyson Events Center. Live audio, statistics and video are available through links at www.msidemustangs.com, the Internet home of Morningside College athletics.

· It's the eighth time Sale's tradition-rich program has reached the national tournament semifinals. The Mustangs also gained similar heights in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015 with victories that advanced them to the championship game in 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2015. Each time the school won in the semifinals, they captured national championships, too. In the most recent opportunity in the Last Four, Mside, in 2015, edged past Great Plains Athletic Conference foe Hastings 66-63.

· An upperclasswoman trio consisting of senior guard Sierra Mitchell (SR/Pleasant Hill, Iowa) (Pleasant Hill, Iowa) and junior forwards Sophia Peppers (JR/Exira, Iowa) (Exira, Iowa) and Taylor Rodenburgh (JR/Hawarden, Iowa) (Hawarden, Iowa) leads the way scoring-wise. Mitchell, who became the fourth player in program history to reach the 2000-point mark in the second-round victory over the University of Saint Francis of Illinois, averages 17.8 points per game and also reached the 100-assist season mark for the first time in her illustrious career in the Mustangs' quarterfinal round dispatchment of Concordia University of Nebraska. Peppers, the squad's rebounding leader (6.8 pg), is second points-wise (15.0 ppg). Rodenburgh, whose super-sub story continues to rise, produces 11.1 points per outing despite having one start in 25 games played. She's been on fire of late, too, reaching double figures in seven of her last 10 appearances which included a 20-point, two-rebound, three-assist effort against Concordia in the quarterfinals.

* A winning streak that started with an 86-67 victory at Concordia University in league action in early December continued to add lofty marks for Mside against a similar opponent March 14. The Mustangs, faced with the unenviable task of taking on the league rival Bulldogs for a fourth time at the Tyson Events Center in one of four national quarterfinals, rebounded from a rocky start which saw the Maroon hit its first goal at nearly the halfway point of the opening quarter. They managed to settle in and used a 19-4 run to end the frame and not trail the rest of the evening towards an 83-67 victory.

* Mside's 23rd straight positive outcome was built around a 49-point second-half outburst that allowed them to break away from a four-point halftime advantage. A blistering 64.2 effort from the field, which included clicking at a better than 46 percent rate from outside the arc, led the attack. Mitchell topped three players in double figures on the final numbers. She tallied 26 to lead all scorers over the 40 minutes. Rodenburgh followed with her effort which was spotlighted due to a tremendous four-of-seven effort from outside the arc including conversions with CU on the cusp of comebacks. Sophomore guard McKenna Sims (SO/South Sioux City, Neb.) (South Sioux City, Neb.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points.

* A victory would move the Mustangs into the program's fifth national championship tilt Tuesday, March 23, against either Indiana Wesleyan University or Westmont College of California.