JOPLIN, Mo. - 5th-seed Iowa Western Women's Basketball fell to 7th-seed Morton (IL) 75-67 in the 5th place finals of the 2024 NJCAA Women's DII National Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
The Reivers (33-4) fell behind 8-0 to start the game but McKenna Minter brought the team back, scoring the first 4 points for IW then found DaNiya Warren-McClure in the lane for her 203rd assist of the season, tying Jasmine Trimboli (2014-15) for most all-time in school history.
The Panthers (33-4) could not miss from deep in the first half, dropping 7 three pointers with Caroline Clemmer going 3 for 3 from beyond the arc. Iowa Western would tie the game at 20 with :31 to go in the first quarter and Minter found Warren-McClure again in the paint to break the all-time assists record but ended up trailing at the half 41-36.
The Reivers finally broke through to take the lead midway through the 3rd quarter, 46-45 but another three from Morton gave the Panthers a two point edge. The teams would continue to go back-and-forth until a pair of free throws from Sophomore Forward Caleigh-Rose West gave Iowa Western a 53-51 lead with 1:25 remaining in the 3rd quarter. Taylor Marquart dropped yet another three for Morton to give them a 54-53 edge and they never looked back, as the Reivers couldn't stop the hot shooting from downtown.
The Reivers outshot the Panthers from the field at a 43.5% clip but Morton would go 13 of 38 from deep compared to just 2 of 8 from downtown for IWCC.
Multiple school records fell this season as the team set a new mark for wins in a season (33), winning streak (21), and the home court winning streak continues and is at 41 wins in a row at Reiver Arena dating back to December 8th, 2021.
Caleigh-Rose West set the IWCC record for rebounds in a season with 298 and McKenna Minter, who had an All-American season, set the new mark for assists with 208 while dropping 14 double-doubles and 2 triple-doubles along the way. She also tied the single game record for assists when she dropped 15 dimes against NIACC on March 4th. Minter fell 46 points shy of the single-season points record held by current Harlem Globetrotter Cherelle George who poured in 792 points in the 2004-05 season.
Sophomore Guard Shannon Niles had a fantastic tournament, scoring 70 points over four games, including a season high 27 in the opening game vs Parkland.
