Historic weekend highlighted by GPAC championship

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – From wire to wire.

Fourteen weekends removed from a 73-63 win over Dakota Wesleyan University, Morningside University put the finishing touches on the 2021-22 Great Plains Athletic Conference regular-season championship Saturday, Feb. 12. Buoyed by three players winding up in double digits, head coach Jamie Sale's Mustangs, ranked No. 9 on the current National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics poll, held visiting Hastings College below 10 points in three of four quarters en route to a 69-38 victory inside Allee Gymnasium of the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center.

When the clock struck four zeroes, an enthusiastic home crowd was treated to a trophy ceremony for the 11^th time overall and second straight campaign. The win, improving Mside's record to 23-4 and 18-2 in the league, was spotlighted by 16 points from senior guard Sierra Mitchell (Pleasant Hill, Iowa); a near-miss triple-double compiled by senior forward Sophia Peppers (Exira, Iowa) of 10 points, nine assists and eight rebounds; and senior forward Taylor Rodenburgh (Hawarden, Iowa) who came off the bench to score 10 points which marked her 11^th double-digit outing of the season.

Beyond the conference championship, another bit of history entered the doors of the RSC during the weekend set. As part of an 80-59 victory over the University of Jamestown Friday, Feb. 11, Mitchell canned her 498^th and 499^th career made three-pointers making her the most prolific long-range shooter in any collegiate division. She and Peppers both led the way past the Jimmies, with Mitchell totaling 20 points and Peppers producing a double-double of 22 points and ten boards.

Morningside, harboring three successive victories and a 15-1 record over the last 16 contests, takes to the road for the final time in the regular season Wednesday, Feb. 16. They visit the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D., for a 6 p.m. start against DWU. 

NOTE: Mitchell returned after her record-setting night Friday to hit her 500^th trey versus Hastings on Feb. 12. She has hit a three-point basket in 16 of her last 17 appearances and is 15 points shy of 2,500.