Win streak moves to six, Mside advances in GPACs

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Senior guard Sierra Mitchell's scoring game is at its peak as the 2022 Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament is underway, which gives Morningside University fans a reason to smile.

Mitchell went for 30-points-or-more for a second successive outing Wednesday, Feb. 23, to guide the top-seeded and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics No. 6-ranked Mustangs to a 98-84 win over eighth-seeded Hastings College. What appeared to be a relatively innocuous 7-0 home team run from the late stages of the first period to the early portion of the second frame managed to give head coach Jamie Sale's squad a lead they wouldn't surrender.

From that beginning, behind the senior standout's 11-of-19 overall and six-of-12 three-point field goal shooting performance, Morningside found the way to win No. 26, increasing the lead to as much as 20 before settling for the 14-point decision. Mitchell's ninth consecutive double-digit outing was just part of the story, though. Sophomore center Chloe Lofstrom (Armstrong, Iowa) tied a personal single-game season-high, notching 25 points to go with nine rebounds. The duo was part of five Mustangs in double digits, as senior forward Taylor Rodenburgh (Hawarden, Iowa) came off the bench for a 12-point, seven-rebound effort, and senior guard Aspen Jansa (Wahoo, Neb.) and senior forward Sophia Peppers (Exira, Iowa) tallied 10 points each.

Morningside takes a six-game win streak into one of two conference semifinal round contests Saturday, Feb. 26. Fourth-seeded Northwestern College visits Allee Gymnasium, and the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center for a 3 p.m. start with a spot in the tournament championship on the line.