Midland Athletics
Jeff Braun, Sports Information Director

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Midland University’s women’s basketball team benefited from a hot-start and strong finish as the team knocked off No. 7 Morningside College by a score of 78-73 on Wednesday night. Midland has now won three of their last four road contests over Morningside dating back to a 77-73 victory on December 16, 2016.

Midland improves to 9-16 on the year with a 5-12 mark in Great Plains Athletic Conference action. Morningside drops to 19-7 overall and 13-4 in the conference.

Midland shot 45.3 percent (24-of-53) from the field compared to 40 percent (28-of-70) for Morningside. The Warriors made the most of opportunities from the charity stripe as the team was 26-of-37 versus 8-of-8 for the Mustangs. Midland narrowly outrebounded Morningside 39-38 and forced 18 turnovers.

Three players recorded double-digit points as sophomore Lexis Haase’s 19 points led the charge. Senior Amanda Hansen and junior Katy Gathje contributed 18 points and 15 points, respectively. Haase led the team with eight rebounds and four steals on the night. Senior Maddie Meadows and sophomore Sam Shepard each registered three assists.

The Warriors built a 9-0 lead to kick off the first quarter before a three by the Mustangs slowed the charge. A jumper from Haase saw the lead grow to 15-5 with 2:13 on the clock, and free throws by sophomore Peyton Wingert built the lead up to 17-5 with 1:38 to go. Morningside dropped in a layup to close out the first quarter as Midland would carry a 17-9 lead in the second quarter.

Morningside battled back to take a 20-19 lead with 7:28 on the clock in the second quarter. A layup by Gathje gave the lead back to the Warriors as the team went up 25-23 with under six minutes on the clock. The teams continued to trade points down the stretch, but a late surge by Midland gave the Warriors a 36-30 lead heading into the break.

A jumper by Meadows brought the Midland lead to 41-35 with seven minutes to go in the quarter, but the Mustangs would benefit from free throws to narrow the Midland lead to 43-42 with 5:39 to go. Nine-straight points by the Mustangs saw a lead change, but Midland spent time at the free throw line and reclaimed a narrow 50-49 lead with just under two minutes to go. A jumper by Morningside in the final seconds brought the score to 51-51—the third tie in the quarter—heading into the final ten minutes of action

Freshman Emma Shepard and Hansen opened the final quarter with back-to-back jumpers, followed by a free throw by Shepard, to go up 56-51. The lead continued to build as a layup from Haase had Midland up 64-55 with 6:27 to go. Ten-straight for the Mustangs gave Morningside a brief lead before a Haase three gave the Warriors a 67-65 edge with under three minutes to go. Midland would continue to use free throws to their advantage and maintained the lead through the final seconds of the contest to run away with a 78-73 road win.

Midland (9-16, 5-12 GPAC) returns to the hardwood on Saturday, February 8 as the team travels back to Sioux City to face Briar Cliff University. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. as the Warriors will look to complete the season sweep over the Chargers after a 72-43 win on January 4.