Lexi Ackerman made two free throws with two seconds left to lift No. 1-ranked Morningside to a 59-57 victory against No. 3 Concordia in Tuesday’s NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship Game in Sioux City.
The victory enabled the Mustangs to avenge their only setback in a 37-1 season after they had lost 80-72 against the same Bulldogs in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Tournament Championship Game exactly two weeks earlier on March 3.
Concordia finished with a record of 35-3, with all three losses coming against Morningside.
Morningside won its fourth NAIA II National Championship during the Jamie Sale coaching era, joining its previous title teams of 2004, 2005, and 2009.
The Mustangs had to overcome adversity to win their latest title, as they marched through the tournament field with five victories while playing without their most decorated player, three-time first-team All-GPAC forward Ashlynn Muhl, who underwent season-ending surgery one day before the tournament began.
Muhl’s understudy, junior forward Jessica Tietz, stepped up admirably and was named the tournament’s MVP after she led the Mustangs with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the title game for her second double-double of the tournament. Ackerman joined her in double figures with 14 points, followed by Allison Bachman with seven tallies and Taylor Bahensky and Mallorie Moore, each with six.
Jordyn Wollenburg, recipient of the tournament’s Hustle Award, grabbed 12 rebounds to share game honors with Tietz and help lead the Mustangs to a 47-40 advantage on the boards.
Tracy Peitz led Concordia with 15 points, followed by Bailey Morris with 14 and Kelsey Hizer with 10. Morris, the NAIA Division II National Player of the Year, added a game-high eight assists. Becky Mueller led the Bulldogs on the boards with 10 rebounds, while the senior Hizer had nine caroms to finish one board shy of a double-double in her collegiate finale.
