Clark's big game not enough to carry Queen Bees
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Staff report | Thursday, March 20, 2008 |
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — A big game from leading scorer Jenny Clark was the recipe for success all season for
No. 15 St. Ambrose.
But Friday in the second round of the NAIA Division II national tournament, not even a game-high 29 points and eight 3-pointers from Clark could lift the Queen Bees to victory over No. 2 Morningside.
Sophomore Roni Miller led the Mustangs’ balanced effort with 18 points and eight rebounds, and host Morningside beat St. Ambrose 70-62 at the Tyson Events Center.
Morningside advanced to its first NAIA quarterfinal since 2005, when it won the second of back-to-back national championships, while St. Ambrose, a team with no seniors, ends its season at 29-7.
“I’m very proud of them,” said first-year St. Ambrose coach Nate Altenhofen. “I thought they played extremely tough in a very, very, very tough environment and didn’t get too down
on a couple of big runs
Morningside made.
“I just told them that’s one of the top three or four teams in the country, and they’re very, very close right now.”
Miller, a 5-11 sophomore from Lawton-Bronson, went to work early underneath, scoring eight points in the first 11 minutes to help stake Morningside to a 21-7 lead. St. Ambrose, though, closed the gap to 24-22 by the 3:53 mark and wound up trailing 30-24 at intermission.
A 3-pointer by Laura Nelson with 14:30 left in the game boosted Morningside’s lead to 44-32, but the Queen Bees once again refused to buckle under. Clark nailed five of her treys in the second half, including a bomb with 5:16 left to pull her team within 61-57.
A key turning point came a couple minutes later with the Mustangs clinging to a 63-57 lead. Altenhofen was whistled for a technical foul with 3:20 remaining, and Morningside turned it into a four-point play.
J.J. Hall converted two free throws, and Gass took a nifty feed from Tighe to score underneath to put the Mustangs up by 10 points, 67-57.
St. Ambrose still had some life left, however, scoring the next five points and then missing a shot with a chance to pull within three with less than a minute to play. Morningside put it away with four free throws in the final 27 seconds.
“I thought Morningside did a lot of great things in the first half. I thought we made a few mistakes we don’t normally make in the second half. That was the toughest part for us, because we felt if we would have come out with a little better burst, it really would have been interesting.”
Junior All-American Dani Gass scored 13 points and added seven rebounds and three assists, while Kristi Tighe came off the bench to fire in four 3-pointers and score 13 points for Morningside. Junior Autumn Bartel contributed 12 points, seven steals and five rebounds for the Mustangs (32-3).
The 18 points for Miller were a career high.
“I was just kind of sitting there in the post and they found me and I put them in,” Miller said. “They were very physical and tough. I give them credit, they played a heck of a game.”
It was Morningside’s second win of the season over St. Ambrose. The Mustangs prevailed 76-65 on Nov. 3 in Davenport.
Morningside had 15 steals and forced 25 turnovers while converting 17 of 24 free throws compared to 5 of 6 for the Queen Bees.
“St. Ambrose did a great job defensively and challenged all our shots,” said Morningside coach Jamie Sale. “Our 3-point shot wasn’t falling very well, and when that happens it makes it a little tougher for us.
“Fortunately, we were able to attack inside somewhat and that helped us change the game.”
Barry Poe of the Sioux City Journal contributed to this report
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