Fantastic finish sends Morningside to GPAC tourney finale

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Eight-tenths of a second Saturday, Feb. 26, decided a spot in the 2022 Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament championship.

Fourth-seeded Northwestern College used a late run in regulation with a span of nine successive points to top-seeded and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' No. 6-ranked Morningside University at 72. After a home team miss with less than 25 seconds remaining, the visitors had a chance to claim a late lead and possible victory. A running lay-up was off the mark and rebounded by the Mustangs. After a timeout with less than a second left, Mside put its game-winning plan into motion. 

"We ran that last sequence just like we wanted," Sale said. "It was designed to clear out the side and find (sophomore center) Chloe (Lofstrom of Armstrong, Iowa). She was able to get to the ball, and then Northwestern committed the foul. It was a nerve-wracking situation, but it worked out."

"At first, when I heard the whistle blow, I thought the game was over," Lofstrom admitted. "However, the officials then said I was going to shoot two free throws. I knew I needed to make at least one because overtime would have been tough, so, after the first one didn't go in, I just kept thinking, 'I've got to do this for my team.'" 

Lofstrom's second attempt did go gently through the net for a 73-72 Mustangs lead. Northwestern still had one more offensive attempt with four-tenths to go with the home crowd in bedlam. However, Morningside's defense extinguished an attempted lob to post player Molly Schany as the clock ran out.

A Great Plains Athletic Conference semifinal round Siouxland clash to remember boiled down nearly 40 minutes of impressive long-range shooting and roundhouse scoring streaks from both sides in front of a large crowd sitting on the edge of its seats throughout inside Allee Gymnasium and the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center. 

The Red Raiders closed in on double-digit advantages at a few points. Head coach Jamie Sale's Mustangs used a 10-0 run in the quarter to take a 47-37 advantage that seemed like a potential game clincher.

"I knew today would be a battle," Sale mused postgame. "When you get in a tournament situation, everyone is playing their hardest." 

Senior guard Sierra Mitchell (Pleasant Hill, Iowa) led Morningside's scoring attack with 16 points and also dished out a team-leading seven assists. Junior guard McKenna Sims (South Sioux City, Neb.) was next in line with 14 points which was the exact total for senior forward Taylor Rodenburgh (Hawarden, Iowa), who hit on four-of-six three-point attempts highlighted by three in the first 20 minutes that thwarted NWC's chances to grow leads. Senior forward Sophia Peppers (Exira, Iowa) added 12 points. Lofstrom, the late-game heroine, was only three points away from a double-double (seven points and ten rebounds).

Morningside, riding a seven-game overall and 32-game home court win streak, faces third-seeded Dakota Wesleyan University at 7 p.m. in the 2022 league tournament championship game.