No. 2 Mustangs power past Warriors
By Aaron Schneider
SIOUX CITY– Morningside College powered to a 100-55 win over the Waldorf College women’s basketball team during the Briar Cliff Holiday Classic on Tuesday.
“They’re a much more experienced team than us and are a team with more length and depth,” Waldorf coach Katie Schutjer said.
The Mustangs (12-1) gave the Warriors (1-12) trouble by forcing 17 steals that led to 25 Waldorf turnovers. Morningside’s defensive pressure helped gain a 37-11 advantage in points off turnovers. The Mustangs turned the ball over 11 times.
“They came at us hard from the get-go with a full-court press,” Schutjer said. “I thought in the second quarter, we settled in and did some good things within our offense.”
Morningside claimed last season’s National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II championship and is ranked No. 2 in the latest national poll.
Freshman Samantha Birkes led Waldorf with 13 points and a team-high six assists in a return to her hometown of Sioux City.
“Samantha had some moves and shots that were good for the offense,” Schutjer said.
Ameh Ogbemudia tallied a double-double for the Warriors, scoring 12 points and ripping down career-high 12 rebounds. The 6-foot freshman center from St. Francis, Minnesota shot 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) from the field and also blocked two shots.
“I felt Ameh held her own against their senior post player,” Schutjer said.
Waldorf freshman Taylor Fricke also reached double figures with 10 points. Sophomore Jessica Denholm notched eight points, junior Molly Greenfield turned in six points, freshman Kassidy Bunger added three points, junior Jenna Quina contributed two points while freshman Meriel Leavy rounded out the scoring effort with one point.
Morningside’s Taylor Bahensky scored a game-high 17 points, shooting 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) from the field and 5-of-8 (62.5 percent) from 3-point range. Lexi Ackerman provided 16 points for the Mustangs, converting on 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) field-goal attempts.
Jessica Tietz, Brandan Tighe and Allison Bachman aided Morningside with 10 points apiece. Tietz and Bachman were also the team’s leading rebounders with nine boards each.
The Mustangs ran a fluid offense, totaling 25 assists as a team. Ackerman dished out five assists while Madison Braun provided four assists.
Morningside received defensive contributions from Bahensky, Braun and Tighe with three steals apiece.
The Mustangs shot 40-of-85 (47.1 percent) from the field while the Warriors went 19-of-56 (33.9 percent) from the floor. Morningside held the advantage from behind the arc, hitting 11-of-32 (34.4 percent) attempts. Waldorf finished 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) from downtown.
The Mustangs held a 47-27 lead at halftime. Morningside followed up a 3-of-18 (16.7-percent) performance from the perimeter in the first half by knocking down 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) during the second half.
Using size to their size in the post, the Mustangs out-rebounded Waldorf by a 53-33 margin and came away with a 54-18 advantage in the paint. Twenty-one offensive rebounds allowed Morningside to outscore the Warriors 14-9 on second-chance points.
The Mustangs converted 9-of-12 (75 percent) attempts from the free-throw line while Waldorf hit 7 of its 16 (43.8 percent) shots at the charity stripe.
The Warriors close out the Briar Cliff Holiday Classic on Wednesday, taking on No. 4 Briar Cliff University (10-2) at 5:30 p.m. Briar Cliff reached the NAIA Division II national semifinals last season.