Two of three Great Plains Athletic Conference women’s basketball teams advanced with victories in the first round of the national NAIA Tourney Wednesday, including GPAC regular season and tourney champ Morningside.
Top-ranked defending national champion Morningside (Iowa) experienced little trouble speeding past eighth-seeded UC Merced (Calif.) The Mustangs flexed their muscles with a 93-64 blowout of the overmatched Bobcats.
Fifteenth-year head coach Jamie Sale’s squad improved to 32-2 overall and has advanced to play in the second round at 1:45 p.m. CT versus 13th-ranked Cardinal Stritch (Wis.).
A late fourth-quarter run put Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) in control in its fifth all-time appearance at the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championships. Behind 27 points from first team all-Great Plains Athletic Conference forward Erica Herrold, the third-seeded Tigers held off Haskell (Kan.), 75-64, in a first-round contest featuring two rosters with no national tournament experience entering the 2016 event.
Head coach Jason Christensen’s squad moved to 26-8 overall and has advanced to play again Friday at 10:15 a.m. CT in the second round of the 2016 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championships
No. 5 Goshen (Ind.) advances on to second round play after an 85-82 game against No. 4 Concordia (Neb.) in the 2016 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship. This is the first national championship win for the Maple Leafs.
