By: NWC Athletic Communications
ORANGE CITY, Iowa. – The No. 4-seed Northwestern College Raiders (24-7, 15-7 GPAC) are set to face the No. 6-ranked and No. 1-seed Morningside University Mustangs (26-4, 20-2 GPAC) in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) tournament semifinal round on Saturday, February 26.
REGULAR SEASON MEETINGS
The Raiders and the Mustangs split their two regular season meetings, with the home squad taking care of business in each of their wins.
The first matchup of the season occurred at the Bultman Center in Orange City, Iowa and the Raiders took down then No. 10 Morningside 78-77. The matchup proved to be a typical GPAC battle with the final blow coming from
Devyn Kemble after she nailed a deep corner three on a
Taylor VanderVelde assist, to put the Raiders up four with seven seconds to play. The Raiders were led in scoring (27) and rebounding (8) by
Molly Schany. Sophia Peppers of Morningside had an impressive performance finishing with 26 points, including seven made threes.
The second meeting of the season saw the Mustangs defend their home court coming away with an 81-63 win. Morningside held a narrow six-point lead at the half and used a run in the third quarter to stretch their lead to 13. The fourth quarter saw Morningside shoot 60 percent from the field and nail four three-pointers to stretch their lead and not allow a Raider comeback.
Emilee Danner led the Raiders in points with 11, she was joined by
Hannah Nerem (10) in the double-digit category for Northwestern. Peppers continued to be a thorn in the side of the Raiders dropping 23 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
SCOUTING MORNINGSIDE
Sierra Mitchell leads the Mustangs in the points per game category with just over 17 a contest, including averaging almost three made three-pointers per game. Mitchell leads all of women's college basketball history (all NCAA divisions and NAIA) in made career 3-pointeres. Peppers averages 14.8 per game along with just over six boards. Chloe Lofstrom and Taylor Rodenburgh round out the double-digit scorers for the Mustangs with 12.9 and 11.7, respectively. The Mustangs are narrowly second in the conference to the Raiders in team field goal percentage (45.9).
RAIDERS IN THE GPAC TOURNAMENT
Northwestern has tallied five GPAC Tournament championships since the beginning of the conference back in 2000-01. The Raiders have reached the semifinal round of the tournament five of the last six seasons. The last time Northwestern made the GPAC conference tournament championship was in the 2013-14 season. The No. 9-ranked Raiders defeated the No. 6-ranked ranked Mustangs 83-71 to capture the GPAC tournament title in 2014.
TICKET INFORMATION
The conference office has set the prices for this year's conference tournament as follows: $10 for adults, $3 for students (K-college). GPAC students will receive free admission with their GPAC institutional ID.
Only NAIA-issued passes will be accepted at all venues throughout the conference tournament. No Northwestern-issued passes will be accepted.
GPAC Tournament Schedule
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, Feb. 23
#8 Hastings, 84 vs.
#1 Morningside, 98
#5 Briar Cliff, 60 vs.
#4 Northwestern, 72
#6 Concordia (Neb.), 52 vs.
#3 Dakota Wesleyan, 68
#7 Jamestown, 60 vs.
#2 Dordt, 71
Semifinals – Saturday, Feb. 26
#4 Northwestern at #1 Morningside (3:00 p.m., Sioux City, Iowa)
#3 Dakota Wesleyan at #2 Dordt (3:00 p.m., Sioux Center, Iowa)
Championship – Tuesday, March 1
Winner of Semifinal #1 vs. Winner of Semifinal #2 (Location & Time TBD)
Tip-off from the Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center-Allee Gymnasium in Sioux City, Iowa is set for 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26.
