MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE GA M E DAY - F E B R UA RY 24 , 20 2 1
MUSTANG BASKETBALL The 2020-21 postseason begins this evening for the Great Plains Athletic Conference regular-season champion Morningside College men’s and women’s basketball teams. Head coach Jamie Sale’s women’s program, harboring a 17-game win streak, is ranked No. 7 on the latest National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics poll. They bring in a 23-2 overall as the league postseason tournament’s top seed. Head coach Jim Sykes’ men’s program stands 20-5 and is ranked No. 8 on the most recent NAIA listing. They are also the tourney’s top seed.
THE MATCH- UP Mside’s men have won 21 straight in the all-time series against Mount Marty University. The run includes a pair of nip-andtuck decisions earlier this year, as the Maroon prevailed 68-58 at home in November and 78-71 at Yankton late last month. Six of the previous eight meetings have been decided by 15-pointsor-less. Before an offensive and defensive masterpiece that led to a 99-53 Morningside victory at home against the University of Jamestown on Jan. 27, the Mustangs-Jimmies women’s series had been dictated by close-knit finishes. The previous six outings had seen point spreads of 15-points-or-less, including five that were decided by less than 10 points. A problematic second 20 minutes of field goal shooting proved to be the difference in the GPAC regular-season finale on Feb. 20. After the Mustangs used a booming 50 percent outing in the first half to lead host Northwestern College by as much as six points, Sykes’ squad went ice cold in the second half on the Red Raiders’ home Bultman Center floor. They converted on only nineof-34 attempts and went zerofor-12 outside the arc. Meanwhile, Northwestern, which has been one of the league’s hottest teams of late, went on a 46-28 run to gain an 83-
66 victory: their 10th in a row. Senior center Trey Brown managed to produce another double-double, going for 18 points and 16 rebounds to go along with two steals, an assist, and a blocked shot. Freshman guard Aidan Vanderloo tallied 12 points, sophomore guard Will Pottebaum added 11 points and three assists, and sophomore guard Trey Powers led the bench with 11 points and two assists. This evening, Imig’s first two points send him past Mark Faber (1977-81) for eighth on the all-time scoring list. He enters the night with 1,464. Brown cleared Daryl Schnoes (1982-86) for 18th on the points chart over the weekend. His 1,231 total is 13 behind Mark Mohl (1,244) for No. 17. Mside’s women capped off a memorable regular season with a victory at Northwestern on Feb. 20. After an 11-day break, they took down the Red Raiders 73-64. It was evident early on that Mside would need some perseverance to add another triumph to the already eye-popping string. The Mustangs trailed their hosts 12-8 with 3:26 left in the first quarter but managed to rebound towards their victorious vocations. They ended the frame on an 11-3 run to hold a 19-15 lead. The remainder of the first half was back and forth, with the home side overtaking their guests for a 33-31 halftime edge. The second half saw Morningside improve their ball-handling after a nineturnover first 20 minutes. Trailing 38-33 early on, they started clawing back to finish the third period up 51-45, which was an advantage they wouldn’t relinquish. Sale’s crew finished with a very evenly-distributed scoring output as five players ended in double-figure scoring. Senior guard Sierra Mitchell led them all with 16 points during an afternoon in which she connected on her 400th career three-pointer. Freshman post player Chloe Lofstrom and senior guard Faith Meyer contributed 14 points.
MORNINGSIDE MUSTANG WOMEN NO.
NAME
YR.
POS.
2 4 10 11 12 13 14 15 23 24 25 30 32 33 40 44
Olivia Boudreau Sierra Mitchell Grace Meyer Madison Clayton McKenna Sims Tayte Hansen Abbe Morten Lauren Hedlund Taylor Rodenburgh Faith Meyer Sophia Peppers Alexis Spier Amanda Ward Blaire Steenhoek Sadie Roth Chloe Lofstrom Tenly Hansen
Fr. Sr. Sr. Jr. So. Sr. Fr Fr. Jr. Sr. Jr. Fr. So. So. So. Fr. Jr.
G G G G G G G G G G F G F G/F F PF G
HT. 5-9 5-6 5-8 5-8 5-8 5-7 5-8 5-6 5-9 5-7 5-10 5-7 5-9 5-9 6-0 6-0 5-11
HOMETOWN/ PREVIOUS SCHOOL Papillion, Neb./Papillion-LaVista Pleasant Hill, Iowa/Southeast Polk Pomeroy, Iowa/Pocahontas Area Sioux City, Iowa/West South Sioux City, Neb./Illinois State Uni. York, Neb./York Hartington, Neb./Hartington-Newcastle Albion, Neb./Boone Central Hawarden, Iowa/West Sioux Pomeroy, Iowa/Pocahontas Area Exira, Iowa/Exira-Elk Horn Kimballton Gretna, Neb./Gretna Longmont, Colo./Holy Family Chariton, Iowa/Southeast Warren Sioux Falls, S.D./Harrisburg Armstrong, Iowa/North Union York, Neb./York
Head coach: Jamie Sale Assistant coaches: Jill Bodammer, Denny Lokken, Jordyn Wollenburg, Bryan Alfredson
UNIVERSITY OF JAMESTOWN WOMEN NO.
NAME
1 2 3 5 10 12 21 22 23 24 25 32 33 35 41
Kia Tower So. Hannah DeMars So. Noelle Josephson Jr. Taylor Froslie Fr. Anni Stier So. Emma Stoehr Sr. Macy Savela So. Kayla Buchanan Jr. Courtney Lloyd Jr. Mackensi Higlin Sr. Gracie Bohl Fr. Jordynn Toliver So. Correy Hickman Sr. McKenna Becher Fr. Audrey RodakowskiFr.
YR.
POS. G F F F G G G G F F G G G G C
HT. 5-6 5-11 5-9 5-9 5-6 5-8 5-6 5-6 5-8 5-10 5-5 5-6 5-7 5-8 6-0
HOMETOWN/ PREVIOUS SCHOOL Bigfork, Minn. Grand Rapids, Minn. Ramsey, Minn. Fargo, N.D. Rugby, N.D. Woodbury, Minn. Mountain Iron, Minn. Wheatland, Wyo. Valley City, N.D. Mandan, N.D. Buchanan, N.D. Box Elder, S.D. Morris, Minn. West Fargo, N.D. Dickinson, N.D.
Head Coach: Thad Sankey Assistant Coaches: Janay Morton, Chris Burks
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#RollSide
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MORNINGSIDE MUSTANG MEN NO.
NAME
YR.
POS.
HT.
HOMETOWN/ PREVIOUS SCHOOL
2 3 5 12 14 20 21 22 24 30 32 33 34 44 50
Jack Dotzler Trey Powers Tyler Vavrina Zach Imig Will Pottebaum Conner Hill Joey Skoff Aidan Vanderloo Collin Hill Zach Martinek Trey Brown Ely Doble TJ Schnurr Will Hurd Jacob Fierst
Fr. So. So. Sr. So. So. Fr. Fr. Jr. So. Sr. Fr. So. Jr. So.
PG SF G G G PG G G F G C PF/C F C F/C
5-10 6-5 6-2 6-3 6-2 5-11 6-2 6-1 6-6 6-4 6-6 6-5 6-6 7-0 6-6
Omaha, Neb./Roncalli Omaha, Neb./Gross Abie, Neb./Aquinas Catholic Gretna, Neb./Gretna LeMars, Iowa/LeMars Jewell, Iowa/South Hamilton Bellevue, Neb./East Sioux City, Iowa/Uni. of Iowa Jewell, Iowa/Truman State Uni. Sheffield, Iowa/West Fork Gretna, Neb./Gretna Gretna, Neb./Gretna Algona, Iowa/Bishop Garrigan Nemaha, Iowa/Storm Lake St. Mary’s West Allis, Wis./West Allis Central
Head coach: Jim Sykes Assistant coaches: Trent Miller, Tim Van Peursem, Trystan Cummins, John Vanderloo, Jackson Lazzo, Derek Degner
MOUNT MARTY UNIVERSITY MEN 0 1 2 3 4 5 10 11 13 14 15 21 22 23 24 25 31 33 35 40 44
Jailen Billings Will Turner Marcus Edwards Allen Wilson Tajen Ross Elijah Pappas Gio Diaz Saba Gvedashvili Adreon Wadlington Luke Ronsiek Chad Moran Kade Stearns RayQuan Moore Noah Jewett Marquise Moore Lincoln Jordre Hunter Kotrous Matthew Becker Jonah Larson Keegan Savary Mitchell Lonneman
G G G G G F G F G G F G G G G F F G F G F
Sr. Fr. Fr. Sr. So. Sr. Sr. Sr. Jr. So. Jr. So. Jr. Jr. Jr. Fr. Fr. Fr. Jr. Sr. Sr.
5-10 6-0 5-8 6-2 6-3 6-4 5-11 6-7 6-3 5-11 6-5 5-11 6-2 5-11 5-10 6-9 6-10 6-3 6-6 6-2 6-6
Sioux City, Iowa/East Ames, Iowa/Gilbert Des Moines, Iowa/Roosevelt Elk River, Minn./Newman University Waukee, Iowa/Kirkwood CC Rockford, Ill./Rock Valley College Plant City, Fla./University of Tampa Rustavi, Rep, of Georgia/NW Oklahoma State St. Paul, Minn./Southwest Mississippi CC Sioux Falls, S.D./O’Gorman HS Honey Creek, Iowa/University of Tampa Sioux Falls, S.D./Tea Area Minneapolis, Minn./NDSCS Crooks, S.D./Tri-Valley Tucson, Ariz./Scottsdale CC Onida, S.D./Northern State Yankton, S.D./Yankton Hartington, S.D./Cedar Catholic Beresford, S.D./Beresford Sergeant Bluff, Iowa/Sergeant Bluff-Luton Adrian, Minn./Adrian
Head coach: Todd Lorensen Assistant coaches: Dan Tharp, Quentin Canty, Aaron Koupal The Morningside College experience cultivates a passion for lifelong learning and a dedication to ethical leadership and civic responsibility.
Junior forward Taylor Rodenburgh resumed her super-sub status, tallying 12 points off the bench. Fellow junior forward Sophia Peppers rounded out the double-dippers with 10 points. Faith Meyer added to her excellent line, finishing with a game-high three steals. The Mustangs out-boarded Northwestern 39-31 as Lofstrom paced the team with eight caroms. Peppers’ weekend afternoon totals moved her 23 points from the 1,000 mark. Mitchell continues to aim for the rarified 2,000-point mark, closing within 77 of the significant career milestone. With a victory tonight, the women would be matched up against either fifth-seeded Dordt University or fourthseeded Briar Cliff University. If the men garner a triumph, they will meet either fifth-seeded Concordia University or fourth-seeded Dakota Wesleyan University. The semifinal round is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 27.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION Head coach Todd Lorensen’s MMU men’s squad brings in a 9-16 record. They split their last four contests. The long ball has been a critical cog for the offense. The Lancers have hit 260 as a team, with the backcourt tandem of senior guard Jailen Billings and sophomore Luke Ronsiek topping the individual numbers with 63 and 40, respectively. Senior forward Elijah Pappas and sophomore guard Kade Stearns are close behind (33/37). A regular-season-ending victory at the World’s Famous Corn Palace against Dakota Wesleyan snapped a three-game skid for UJ’s women. Head coach Thad Sankey’s team is 15-10. Sophomore forward Hannah DeMars has been a handful for the opposition, averaging 17.9 points and 7.9 boards per outing. Sophomore guards Macy Savela and Kia Tower have combined to hit over 100 three-pointers to bolster the team’s offense.