Northwestern fell short in its upset bid against No.8 Morningside 90-87 in overtime in the quarterfinals of the GPAC Women's Basketball postseason tournament played tonight in Sioux City, Iowa. 

The Red Raiders are now 17-11 on the season and will have to wait to see if they earn one of the at-large bids into the NAIA D-II National Championship. The national office will announce the pairings on Wednesday night, March 4. 

Morningside scored the first five points of the overtime period and never trailed during the extra time. Northwestern managed to trim the lead down to two, 87-85, with a lay-up from Taylor VanderVelde with 18 seconds remaining.

With the Red Raiders forced to foul, Morningside sophomore Sophia Peppers drained a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left. Alexis Toering came back and converted a short jumper in the lane with five seconds left, set up for the steal but Morningside successfully inbounded the ball to Peppers, who was fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws with two seconds left. Northwestern's last chance shot from over half court was off and the Mustangs held on for the win.

Four Red Raiders scored in double figures, led by Bre Schuiteman, Toering and VanderVelde all with 15 points, Sammy Blum contributed 13 and Emilee Danner scored eight. All nine Red Raiders who played had at least three points. Toering pulled down 12 rebounds for the first double-double of her career. VanderVelde totaled nine boards and three assists.

Morningside had all the momentum early, racing out to a 19-8 lead courtesy of Mustangs forward Taylor Rodenburgh, who scored nine straight points during the run. Following a Mustangs three-pointer, Northwestern scored the final five points of the quarter on a basket from VanderVelde and three-pointer by Blum to make the score 22-17 after one.

Anothter fast start by the Mustangs in the second quarter gave the hosts their largest lead, 37-24, and forced Northwesterh into a timeout at the 3:45 mark. Head Coach Chris Yaw's squad responded with a 14-0 run to take their first lead, 38-37, at halftime. Three pointers by Schuiteman (2) and Danner (2) along with two free throws from Jada Cunningham completed the scoring run.

Northwestern built up a four point lead early in the third only to have Morningside go on a 20-10 run during the final seven minutes to take a 61-55 advantage into the fourth quarter.

A three-pointer by Cunningham finished off a 12-2 Northwestern run that put her team in front, 67-63, with just over six minutes left. With Northwestern still up four (74-70), Morningside scored the next six points and led 76-74 following a basket by Sydney Hupp with under a minute left. Toering tied the score on the Red Raiders next possession and both teams missed on chances to take the lead during the final 25 seconds of regulation.

Rodenburgh led Morningside with 23 points and 11 boards; Hupp contributed 22 points, 11 boards, and Sierra Mitchell scored 14.

By the Numbers:

Northwestern shot 48% for the game, 50% (11/22) from beyond the arc; Morningside shot 44% from the field, 27% (7/26) from the three-point line. The re

The Red Raiders held the advantage on the boards, 45-38; both teams accounted for 12 offensive rebounds.

Turnovers; Northwestern had 23, Morningside 17