Morningside’s run in the NAIA National Tournament came to an end in the National Semifinals on Monday evening with a 65-52 loss to top-seeded Thomas More.

Thomas More built a 16-point lead with 3 minutes left in the first half but the Mustangs began to connect from downtown and cut the lead to 6 by halftime. The Mustangs continued their hot shooting in the second half and came all the way back to lead by 1 with just under 8 minutes left. The Saints answered back though with a six point run and held on down the stretch.

Taylor Clos led the Saints with 14 points and five assists. They advance to face Westmont (CA) in the National Championship game tonight at 7:00 p.m. Westmont advanced with a 74-65 win over Indiana Wesleyan in the other Semifinal.

Exira-EHK graduate Sophia Peppers scored 9 points for the Mustangs. The junior also had 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. Sierra Mithcell led all scorers with 27 points for Morningside. The Mustangs finish the season at 29-3.

With Jim Field.

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Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Ashley Joens scored an Iowa State NCAA Tournament record 33 points, including the clinching free throw with 3.1 seconds left, to lift the Cyclones to a 79-75 women’s opening-round win over Michigan State. Iowa State made 8 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter and 6 of 8 in the final 1:41 to hold off the 10th-seeded Spartans, who trailed by 10 with 1:40 to play in the third quarter. The seventh-seeded Cyclones will play second-seeded and fourth-ranked Texas A&M in the second round of the Mercado Region on Wednesday. Nia Clouden scored 16 points for the Spartans (15-9).

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Chris Duarte scored 23 points and Oregon showed no signs of rust in beating No. 2 seed Iowa 95-80 to reach the Sweet 16 after a long layoff. The seventh-seeded Ducks had advanced to the West Region’s second round without playing a game because first-round opponent Virginia Commonwealth had multiple positive COVID-19 tests. That left the Ducks with a nine-day break since losing in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. Oregon’s offense hummed like it was fresh off the line once the ball went up. It kicked off the NCAA Tournament’s first Monday of second-round games with a masterpiece. Two-time All-American Luka Garza capped his stellar college career by tying the Iowa NCAA Tournament record with 36 points.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Marcus Zegarowski scored 20 points to help Creighton beat Ohio 72-58 in the NCAA Tournament. That secured the program’s first trip to the round of 16 in 47 years. Damien Jefferson added 15 points for the Bluejays, the fifth seed in the West Region. They’ll next face No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga in the the Sweet 16. Creighton hadn’t reached a regional semifinal since 1974. Dwight Wilson III scored 12 points to lead Ohio. The 13th-seeded Bobcats shot 32% and made 7 of 30 3-pointers after their upset of 2019 champion Virginia in the first round.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Isaiah Mobley scored 17 points, younger brother Evan had 10 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 6 seed Southern California routed Kansas 85-51 to reach the Sweet 16. It was the worst loss in 49 trips to the NCAA Tournament for the No. 3 seed Jayhawks. USC ended the first half on an 11-0 run to take a 40-21 lead and never looked back. Marcus Garrett scored 15 points to lead Kansas, which was out-rebounded 43-27.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Brice Calip had 18 points and Missouri State used a huge third-quarter run to beat UC Davis 70-51 in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament. Jasmine Franklin added 17 points and 17 rebounds, helping No. 5 seed Missouri State dominate inside. Missouri State will face No. 13 Wright State on Wednesday after it advanced with an upset win against Arkansas.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas  – Survive and advance. The Iowa State women’s basketball team (17-10, 12-6 Big 12) did just that Monday night in a 79-75 victory over Michigan State (15-9, 8-7 Big Ten) in the first round of the NCAA Championship.

The win advances the Cyclones to the second round with a match up vs. No. 2-seeded Texas A&M on Wednesday.

Iowa State was able to stave off a Michigan State team that quickly erased a seven-point deficit at the beginning of the fourth quarter and was down by just one point (76-75) with :26 seconds left in the contest.

Iowa State made 6-of-their-last-8 free-throws, including a pair from Lexi Donarski with :26 seconds left and one by Ashley Joens with :02 seconds remaining to ice the victory.

With the season on the line the Cyclones went to their big gun Joens, who was absolutely sensational. The Big 12 leading scorer broke ISU’s NCAA Tournament scoring record by pouring in 33 points, her seventh 30-point outing of the season. Joens also drilled four 3-pointers and grabbed nine boards in the win.

Joens’ 33 points ties for the fifth-most by a Big 12 player in a NCAA Tournament game since 2000.

The Cyclones also received a major boost from off the bench from Madison Wise, who tallied her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 caroms. She was 5-of-7 from the field.

ISU also made a big dent with its 3-point shooting, connecting on 9-of-22 from downtown (41.0 percent).

The first quarter went according to plan for the Cyclones. Connecting on 64 percent of its shots from the field, including a 5-of-6 effort from downtown, Iowa State led 26-20 after the first 10 minutes. A key 8-0 run late in the quarter fueled by Wise and Joens 3-pointers allowed the Cyclones to move ahead.

Joens (10 points) and Kristin Scott (seven points) combined for 17 of ISU’s 26 points in the quarter.

MSU opened the second quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 30-28 lead, but the Cyclones quickly answered with an Emily Ryan bomb and a scoop shot from Joens, who was fouled and converted the free-throw to make it 34-30 ISU.

The half ended with the Cyclones owning a 45-39 lead, as Joens had 18 first-half points despite sitting out seven minutes to protect a couple of early fouls.

Joens helped the Cyclones increase their lead to 56-47 with under four minutes remaining in the third stanza by scoring seven of the team’s first 11 points. However, Joens picked up her third foul and Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly made the wise move to sit Joens for the remainder of the period.

With Joens on the bench, the Cyclones remained on top to begin the fourth period at 63-56.

The Spartans briefly tied the game in the fourth quarter, but the Cyclones were able to counter and never gave up the lead for the remaining of the game.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Chris Duarte scored 23 points and Oregon showed no signs of rust in beating No. 2 seed Iowa 95-80 to reach the Sweet 16. The seventh-seed Ducks were put in an unprecedented spot by advancing to the West Region’s second round without playing a game. Virginia Commonwealth’s multiple positive COVID-19 tests took care of that and left the Ducks with a nine-day gap since losing in the Pac-12 Tournament title game.

Oregon guard Chris Duarte (5) drives on Iowa forward Keegan Murray (15) during the second half of a men’s college basketball game in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Monday, March 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Oregon’s offense hummed like it was fresh off the line once the ball went up. It kicked off the NCAA Tournament’s first Monday of second-round games with a masterpiece.

The Iowa State women open the NCAA Tournament late Monday afternoon in San Antonio against Michigan State. The seventh seeded Cyclones enter with a record of 16-10 while the 10th seeded Spartans are 15-8. ISU coach Bill Fennelly.

Fennelly says the Spartans cause concerns.

Fennelly says the Spartans have depth and versatility.

It is a 5:00 p.m. central time tip off.

Iowa plays Oregon Monday morning in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes advanced with an 86-74 win over Grand Canyon while the Ducks moved on after Virginia Commonwealth withdrew due to COVID protocols. Oregon won the Pac-12 regular season title. Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon says Oregon’s smaller lineup will come at them with a variety of presses.

It will be an 11:10am tip off. We’ll have coverage on the Hawkeye Radio Network with pregame starting at 10:00 a.m.

Monday’s NCAA Men’s Tournament Schedule

#7 Oregon vs. #2 Iowa 11:10 a.m. CBS and KJAN
#8 Oklahoma vs. #1 Gonzaga 1:40 p.m. CBS
#14 Abilene Christian vs. #11 UCLA 4:15 p.m. TBS
#13 Ohio vs. #5 Creighton 5:10 p.m. TNT
#8 LSU vs. #1 Michigan 6:10 p.m. CBS
#5 Colorado vs. #4 Florida State 6:45 p.m. TBS
#10 Maryland vs. #2 Alabama 7:45 p.m. TNT
#6 USC vs. #3 Kansas 8:40 p.m. CBS

The Morningside women’s basketball team is headed to the NAIA National Semifinals with an 83-67 win over Concordia on Saturday in Sioux City.

Sierra Mitchell scored 26 points and a 19-4 run at the end of the first half put Morningside in control. The Mustangs are in the midst of a 23-game winning streak and are now 29-2 overall. Exira-EHK grad Sophia Peppers contributed 8 points and 8 rebounds in the win over Concordia.

The Mustangs advance to a national semifinal meeting with top-seeded Thomas More (KY) in Sioux City on Monday at 6:00 p.m. The winner will play for a national championship on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

The track and field season is starting to get revved up and the Atlantic boys team competed at the Central College Indoor meet in Pella on Saturday. Here is some of the finishes for the Trojans.

Long Jump
21st- Jackson McLaren

High Jump
9th Jayden Proehl

1600 Meters
19th Zane Berg
23rd Drew Engler

60 Meter Hurdles
5th Collin Mullenix

400 Meters
7th Collin Mullenix

800 Meters
6th Craig Alan Becker

200 Meters
27th Garrett Reynolds
34th Zane Vance

3200 Meters
9th Zane Berg
14th Drew Engler

4×400 Meter Relay
10th Atlantic (Zane Vance, Bennett Whetstone, Craig Alan Becker, Collin Mullenix)

Full results and times HERE.

With Jim Field.

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