[Women's Basketball] Chargers end Mount Mercy's national tournament run

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- For the fifth straight game, a tight contest would be determined by the team that could make plays down the stretch. In most of those, it was Mount Mercy coming through. But in Saturday's quarterfinal, Briar Cliff was able to pull away late and advance to the semifinals of the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship with an 81-76 victory over the Mustangs at the Tyson Events Center.

Mount Mercy won 10 of its last 12 games to end the season at 27-9 overall, the most wins by a Mustang squad since the 1994-95 team went 31-6 and reached the final four at the NAIA Division II national tournament. Mount Mercy's only two losses over those final 12 games were to a pair of ranked opponents, then-ninth-ranked Grand View on Feb. 27 and tonight against 12th-ranked Briar Cliff. The Mustangs and Chargers were tied for 12th in the top 25 poll on Feb. 29.

Things looked good early on for Mount Mercy, which led by six points at halftime thanks in part to a 14-of-14 performance at the free throw line. Ironically, it would be free throw shooting that would turn the tide for Briar Cliff (25-9) in the second half. The Mustangs were 12-of-19 after the break, while the Chargers knocked down 21-of-31 from the free throw line after Mount Mercy was whistled for 20 of the 34 fouls called in the second period.

The Mustangs, who led by as many as 11 late in the first half, enjoyed its final lead of the night after a pair of free throws by senior guard Emily Greiner with 5:07 remaining in the contest. The Chargers enjoyed a brief, three-point lead with 4:17 to go before a 3-pointer by senior guard Micha Mims knotted the score at 70-70 about a minute later. Briar Cliff answered with a game-changing, 7-0 run that gave the Chargers an insurmountable 77-70 advantage with 56 seconds left.

Mount Mercy's inside duo of senior forward Bria Fields and sophomore forward Amanda Frost were solid again for the Mustangs. Fields finished with 19 points and eight rebounds while Frost put up 10 points and seven boards. Mims hit three treys and had 17 points and six rebounds. She wraps up her career as the 16th-leading scorer in school history with 1,105 points. Mims also ranks eighth on Mount Mercy's 3-point field goal list with 188.

One night after setting Mount Mercy's single-season scoring mark, Greiner tied Karen Smith's 17-year-old school record for career 3-pointers and wraps up her career with 260 treys. She had nine points against the Chargers to give her 647 this season and 1,616 points as a Mustang. That ranks sixth in school history. Greiner ends her career with school records for career 3-pointers (260), single-season points scored (647), single-season 3-pointers (100) and single-season free throws made (193) and attempted (230).

Freshman guard Danielle Herdliska also contributed nine points, five rebounds and three steals off the bench for the Mustangs, who played a hometown team for the second night in a row after beating fifth-ranked Morningside, 79-72, on Friday.

Four Chargers scored in double figures tonight, led by Kela Cihak's 22 points. She also grabbed nine rebounds. Kelsey Evans had 17 points and three steals, Mattie Murren 15 points and three boards. Megan Salcedo chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds, Sara Reeves seven points and three assists.

Briar Cliff will face Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) foe and eighth-ranked Northwestern, the two-time defending national champion, in one semifinal on Monday at 6:00 p.m. Second-ranked Concordia (Neb.), which knocked off seventh-ranked Grand View, 80-68, on Saturday, takes on third-ranked College of the Ozarks (Mo.) in Monday's other semifinal at 8:00 p.m. The national championship game is Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. at the Tyson Events Center.