Orange City, Iowa — Second half turnovers plagued the Northwestern College women’s basketball team in its 73-64 loss to No.7 Morningside in the GPAC regular season finale for both teams.
The Raiders 11-game win streak comes to an end as they move into the GPAC postseason tournament as the No.3 seed with a 16-6 record (GPAC), 16-9 overall. Morningside, the GPAC regular season champion and No.1 seed in the upcoming tournament, improves to 21-1 (GPAC), 23-2 overall.
Down by as many as six early in the second quarter, Northwestern found its groove on the offensive end, outscoring the Mustangs 13-3, to take a four-point lead after a three-point play Maddie Jones.
Holding onto a 33-31 halftime lead, a Taylor VanderVelde basket put Northwestern in front by five (38-33) early in the third quarter, its largest lead of the second half. Morningside responded with a 10-2 run, finished off with a three-pointer by Taylor Rodenburgh, to give the Mustangs a three-point (43-40) advantage. A three-point play by Molly Schany moments later tied the game for the final time, 43-43, but Morningside outscored the hosts 8-2 to surge ahead for good, 51-45, by quarters end.
Five straight points by Morningside post player Chloe Lofstrom pushed the Mustangs lead to 11 in the opening moments of the fourth quarter until Northwestern stormed back and trailed by just two (61-59), outscoring the Mustangs 14-5 during a four-minute stretch. Following a timeout, free throws by Sophia Peppers and a three-pointer from Faith Meyer put the game away for the Mustangs as they went ahead 69-59 at the three-minute mark.
Schany finished one rebound shy of a double-double, totaling a team-high 16 points and nine rebounds. Sammy Blum, one of two Northwestern seniors recognized prior to the game, scored 11 before fouling out with around three minutes left to play. Devyn Kemble provided Head Coach Chris Yaw’s squad with 10 points and two assists.
Northwestern shot 42% for the game, 33% (7/21) from the three-point arc, and committed 19 turnovers, 16 in the second half. The Raiders were outrebounded by eight (39-31), their second largest deficit of the season. Alexis Toering and Jada Cunningham dished out four assists each.
Morningside shot 44% from the field, 40% (9/22) from the three-point arc; five Mustangs players’ scored in double figures, led by Sierra Mitchell with 16. Faith Meyer and Lofstrom added 14 points each.
