March 14, 2008

SIOUX CITY, Iowa. - No. 1 seed Morningside (Iowa) weather a late surge by fourth seed, St. Ambrose to hold on for a 70-62 in the second round of the17^th annual NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa.

Morningside (32-3) jumped out to a quick 14 point lead, fueled by 14 to four run to take command. The Mustangs then seemed to start sleep walking on the Queen Bee's, as St. Ambrose (29-6) began to make a comeback climbing to within six points, 30-24, at the halftime intermission.

The Mustangs refocused at halftime to jump back out to a ten point lead, the only time the Queen Bee's threatened, sophomore Jenny Clark was stripped in the lane with the chance to cut the Morningside lead to one possession, then the St. Ambrose bench was charged with a technical foul. The foul led to two Mustang points from free throws by J.J. Hall then Dani Gass was left wide open for an easy lay in and the four point swing was too much for the Queen Bees to overcome in the last 3:20

 

Roni Miller led the Mustang offense with 18 points along with three other Morningside players in double digits: Kristi Tighe (13), Dani Gass (13), and Autumn Bartel (12).

Clark led St. Ambrose as well as all scorers in the game with 29 points, powered by 8-of-18 from three-point land. Callie Sobaski added 11 points off the bench for the Queen Bee's.

Morningside advances to the quarterfinals to take on Minot State (N.D.) at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday.