Bio

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Two of the greatest women’s basketball players in Morningside College (Iowa) history will be honored prior to the start of Tuesday’s women’s basketball game against Dakota Wesleyan University (S.D.) when the college will retire the jerseys worn by Autumn Bartel and Dani Gass. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center.

A reception for the two former players will be held in the Buckingham M-Club Room during halftime of that evening’s men’s basketball game between Morningside and Dakota Wesleyan.

Bartel and Gass were the standouts for a 2008-09 Morningside team that ranks as one of the greatest in NAIA Division II Women's Basketball history. They led the Mustangs to a 38-0 record and the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship as Morningside became only the second team in history to capture the NAIA Division II national title with an undefeated record. They led Morningside to a combined record of 121-22, four GPAC regular season championships and two GPAC post-season tournament championships during their four-year careers. Morningside was undefeated over the final 55 regular season games of their careers.

Both players were named to the 2009 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball All-America First-Team. Gass was also named the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Player of the Year and the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Player of the Year, while Bartel was named the Most Valuable Player of the Division II Women's Basketball National Tournament and was last year’s GPAC Defensive Player of the Year.

Bartel was the Mustangs’ leading scorer during their national championship season with an average of 15.2 points per game for the highest scoring average of her career. She also ranked second on the team with career-high totals of 160 assists and 112 steals for averages of 4.2 assists and 2.9 steals per game. Bartel turned her game up a notch over the second half of the campaign when she put together a streak of 28 consecutive double figure scoring performances and was the Mustangs’ leading scorer in 11 of their final 18 games. She tied a Morningside single-game record for field goal accuracy when she went eight-for-eight in a 75-59 victory against Hastings College (Neb.) on Jan. 17.

Bartel graduated as the fifth leading scorer in Morningside history with 1,731 career points and she collected 476 career rebounds for the 19th highest total in school history. She earned First-Team NAIA Division II Women's Basketball All-America honors as a senior and was an honorable mention All-American as a junior. Bartel earned first-team All-GPAC honors as a senior and was a second-team All-GPAC selection as a freshman and junior.

Gass is the only three-time NAIA Division II First-Team All-American and four-time first-team All-GPAC selection in Morningside history. She was also the 2006 GPAC Freshman of the Year. Gass finished her career as the fourth leading scorer and second leading rebounder in Morningside history with 1,802 career points and 1,094 career rebounds to become only the second player in Morningside history to amass over 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. She is Morningside’s all-time leader with 451 career steals. She was Morningside’s leading rebounder in 105 of the 143 games she played during her career.

Gass averaged 11.6 points per game and led Morningside with 287 rebounds, 203 assists, and 141 steals for averages of 7.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 3.7 steals per game during the Mustangs’ 2008-09 national championship season. She dealt a career-high 12 assists in wins against Northwestern College (Iowa) and Hastings College (neb.) to finish one shy of the Mustangs’ single-game record.