CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA – No. 22 Grand View heated back up with a road test following the blizzard conditions in Iowa. The Vikings traveled to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to take on the Mustangs of Mount Mercy University. The Mustangs were coming off of a near upset over reigning National Champions Clarke University in the previous game. The Vikings, however, picked things back up where they left them, as they held the Mustangs to just 25 second-half points and downed them by a score of 65-45 to complete a regular season sweep over MMU.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After Grand View chipped in the first five points hosted by
Cleao Murray on a lay-in and an and-one, both teams struggled to score. The Vikings went scoreless in the first quarter for nearly three minutes until Murray again connected on a pair of free throws to spark some offense for the Vikings, as they led by two with just under three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Ella Larsen found her first bucket of the contest just a minute later, a jumper increasing the Vikings lead to four. A late three-pointer would be the final points of the first quarter for the Vikings as Gossling connected.
The Mustangs jumped early to cut their deficit to three, but Larsen hit another jumper to push it back to five. After Mount Mercy found their closest deficit in just one point,
Rachel Leerar could answer to keep a little breathing room for the Vikings. After another scoring lull for both squads, Grand View received a layup from
Katie Fogarty for her first basket of the contest. With just eight seconds remaining,
Ellie Rengstorf was able to get an up-and-under lay-in to fall to give Grand View their largest lead of the competition thus far, 27-20.
No. 22 Grand View opened the second half with possession. Gossling hit an early jumper to put the Vikings' lead just short of double-digits. Following a 4-0 run by the Mustangs,
Kaylyn Meyers got into the action with a corner three assisted by Rengstorf. A timeout would finally halt a 0-3 possession run by the Vikings; Grand View gathered from the timeout as
Rachel Leerar laid one in to stop the Mustang's momentum. Leerar would close out the third quarter with a 3-pointer to lead the Mustangs 49-42 before the final 10.
The Vikings jumped on the Mustangs early in the final quarter.
Lauren Conrey scored to give Grand View a 12-point advantage with only five minutes remaining in the fourth. Back-to-back possessions with threes from Murray and Gossling gave Grand View its largest lead of the contest of 18 points. A final two from Conrey would send the Vikings home with their tenth conference win by a score of 65-45 and 14th win overall.
GAME NOTES:
- The Vikings did not trail the entire contest for the second game in a row.
- GVU out-rebounded the Mustangs 42-34
- Grand View held the Mustangs to three points in the fourth quarter.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Grand View will close out its week on Thursday, January 18th, as the Yellowjackets travel to Sisam Arena. The Vikings and the Jackets will square things off at 5:30 p.m. in Des Moines.
