Feb. 21, 2008

Roni Miller made a basket at the buzzer to lift No. 3 Morningside to an 88-86 victory over No. 2 Northwestern in Wednesday's GPAC women's basketball showdown in the Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center.

The Mustangs, who won their school-record 24th game in a row, rallied from an 84-75 deficit with 3:20 left in the game. J.J. Hall scored seven points during a nine-point run that saw the Mustangs catch the Red Raiders at 84-84 with 1:19 left.

At stake was sole possession of the GPAC lead as the two teams entered the contest with undefeated records in the league. Morningside clinched at least a share of the GPAC's regular season championship with the victory and improved its league record to 17-0 to open a one-game lead over Northwestern with one game remaining.

Dani Gass scored a season's high 21 points to lead a group of four Morningside players in double figures. Brittanny Williamson was right behind with 18 points, followed by Hall with 14 and Kristi Tighe with 12. For Tighe, it was her team-leading 11th double figure scoring performance off the bench this season.

Amy Larson led the Red Raiders with 27 points behind a seven-for-11 shooting performance from beyond the 3-point arc. National scoring leader Debbie Remmerde, who was limited to five points and only two shot attempts in the first half, finished with 24 points. Randa Hulstein contributed 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds off the bench.

Gass led all performers with 10 rebounds to lead the Mustangs to a 36-33 advantage on the boards. Gass also had a game-high six assists.

Northwestern shot 54.4 percent from the field and ended the Mustangs' defensive streak of 22 straight games of holding the opposition to a scoring total less than 70 points.