[Women's Basketball] Ninth straight win gets Mustangs into semifinals

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Second-seeded Mount Mercy couldn't shake seventh-seeded Ashford in Thursday's quarterfinal, but the 12th-ranked Mustangs were finally able to pull away late and advanced to the semifinals of the 2012 Midwest Collegiate Conference Women's Basketball Tournament with a 77-65 victory over the Saints at Hennessey Recreation Center.

Mount Mercy managed a six-point halftime lead and quickly moved in front by double digits, 42-32, less than three minutes into the second period. Ashford hung around, staying with 10 until the Mustangs were able to build a 51-40 advantage with 12:57 to go. The Saints (10-20) clawed back to within four, 57-53, six minutes later, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way.

Senior guards Micha Mims and Emily Greiner scored 27 of Mount Mercy's 41 points in the second half. Mims finished with a game-high 23 points, including 16 after the break. She also had a game-high nine rebounds, three assists and five steals.

An 11-point second period gave Greiner a 20-point night. She nailed three 3-pointers to set a new single-season record, surpassing the previous mark of 88 set in 1993-94 by Karen Smith. Greiner also went 7-of-8 from the free throw line to extend her school record for free throws made in a season to 171.

Senior forward Bria Fields added 13 points. Senior guard Laura Lippert tallied eight points, three boards, three assists and a pair of blocked shots. Sophomore forward Amanda Frost contributed seven points, freshman guard Danielle Herdliska five rebounds and two steals off the bench.

Patricia Ramos led the Saints with 18 points and four steals. Quinn Rear chipped in 12 points, Madison Wagner eight and Deana Bledsoe, Janell Anthony and Gaby Ayon seven points apiece. Bledsoe also grabbed six rebounds.

Mount Mercy's nine-game winning streak will be put to the test on Saturday against a St. Ambrose squad that comes in playing its best basketball of the season. The sixth-seeded Queen Bees (13-15) upset third-seeded Iowa Wesleyan (17-11), 69-52, tonight in Mount Pleasant. Tip time on Saturday is 2:00 p.m. at Hennessey Rec Center.

In other quarterfinal action, top-seeded Grand View (26-5) held off eighth-seeded AIB (13-18), 69-64, in Des Moines and fourth-seeded William Penn (12-18) beat fifth-seeded Viterbo (Wis.) (10-21), 65-55, in Oskaloosa. The ninth-ranked Vikings take a 16-game winning streak into Saturday's contest against the Lady Statesmen.

The championship game of the MCC Tournament will be hosted by the highest remaining seed on Monday at 7:00 p.m.