Clarke routs Mount Mercy, 78-58, in AII women’s basketball quarterfinal

CEDAR RAPIDS – Earlier this season, the Mount Mercy women's basketball team won two games over Clarke by a combined 32 points.

The Crusaders clearly learned a few things from the first two meetings.

Clarke sophomore Kea Whittington led all scorers with 18 points as the fifth-seeded Crusaders eliminated No. 4 Mount Mercy, 78-58, in the quarterfinals of the Association of Independent Institutions basketball championships Friday at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'They just looked like they were a little bit hungrier than we were,' Mount Mercy interim women's coach Bob Kintzel said. 'A little bit more aggressive, attacking us. We were on our heels. … We just got ourselves in too big of a hole too early.'

Clarke (18-11) advances to Saturday's semifinal against No. 1-seed Ozarks (Mo.), which dispatched Washington Adventist (Md.), 69-45, in a morning quarterfinal.

The Crusaders jumped all over the Mustangs in the first half by scoring the first six points of the game, then compounded their lead with spurts of 12-2 and 14-5 in the second quarter. A 3-pointer by Whittington at the halftime horn sent Clarke to the locker room with a 39-15 lead.

Mount Mercy shot just 16 percent from the field in the first half, including 0 for 11 from behind the 3-point line. To further their woes, the Mustangs turned the ball over 26 times, including 18 in the first half.

'When we attacked, they just took it right out of our hands,' Kintzel said. 'Credit to them, but I'm a little disappointed with the way we came out.'

Clarke led by as many as 35 points in the second half before a flurry of Mount Mercy 3-pointers cut the deficit to as little as 15.

Kelsey Ernst – who prepped at Bellevue – added 16 points for Clarke, while former Cedar Rapids Washington prep Abby Herb led Mount Mercy (16-14) with 13.

Both schools competed this season as independents after being a part of the Midwest Collegiate Conference. Both will join the Heart of America Athletic Conference upon the start of the new academic year.

AT US CELLULAR CENTER

CLARKE (78): Kea Whittington 4-10 8-10 18, Breland Prochaska 3-13 8-9 14, Katelyn Hoppman 2-6 2-4 6, Molly Kleppin 3-6 3-5 9, Kelsey Ernst 7-10 2-2 16, Maranda Ricker 0-1 0-0 0, Jade Ramirez 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Werner 1-2 0-0 2, Jennifer Petkoff 0-2 0-0 0, Natasha Adames 2-3 0-0 5, Jayla Penney 3-4 2-3 8, Alex De Craene 0-0 0-0 0, Mady Engstrom 0-0 0-0 0. Totals

25-57 25-33 78.

MOUNT MERCY (58): Abby Herb 3-9 7-9 13, Alisa Weiland 0-6 6-8 6, Makenzue Zeitler 2-6 3-3 7, Tiana Thompson 0-4 0-0 0, Ashley Dolan 3-6 2-4 9, Lakin Goodman 1-1 0-0 2, Sara Blowers 3-4 0-0 9, McKenna Sexton 0-3 1-2 1, Andrea Valadez 0-0 0-0 0, Quenna Keating 0-0 0-0 0, Latasha Harmon 0-1 0-0 0, Chelsey Lampe 2-6 2-4 7, Jordyn Lehman 2-5 0-1 4. Totals

16-51 21-31 58.

Halftime— Clarke 39, MM 15. 3-point goals— Clarke 3-12 (Whittington 2-4, Adames 1-2, Prochaska 0-4, Kleppin 0-1, Petkoff 0-1), MM 5-23 (Blowers 3-4, Weiland 0-4, Dolan 1-3, Herb 0-3, Thompson 0-3, Lampe 1-3, Zeitler 0-2, Sexton 0-1). Fouled out— Herb, Weiland, Zeitler, Thompson (MM). Rebounds— Clarke 36 (Ernst 10), MM 40 (Zeitler 16). Assists— Clarke 14 (Whittington 6), WW 7 (Lampe 3). Total fouls—

Clarke 26, WW 27.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com