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Cloud And Pudenz Receive MVP Honors
Mustangs
Break Many School Records During National Championship Season
The
Mustangs Are National Champions--Again!
Cloud
Is NAIA Player of the Year; Carper is Second-Team All-American
Watson
Is All-America Scholar-Athlete
Cloud
Named GPAC Player Of The Year; Carper Joins Her On All-GPAC
First-Team
Mustangs
Ranked Second In Final NAIA National Poll
Carper
Makes Academic All-District Team
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Megan Cloud |
Jill Pudenz |
Megan Cloud, a 5-8 senior guard from Sioux City, received the Most Valuable Player award for the Morningside College women’s basketball team when the Mustangs held their post-season awards banquet on Saturday.
Cloud, this year's NAIA Division II National Player of the Year and a first-team All-American, was the Mustangs’ leading scorer and rebounder with averages of 19.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. She also led the team with 125 steals for an average of 3.3 per game and ranked second on the team with 156 assists for a norm of 4.1 per contest. Cloud was the Mustangs’ most prolific 3-point shooter with a team-high 116 3-point field goals. She led the team in field goal accuracy with 246 hoops in 537 attempts for 45.8 percent and in free throw accuracy with 138 free throws in 171 attempts for 80.7 percent.
Cloud finished her career as the second leading scorer and 12th leading rebounder in Morningside history with 2,209 career points and 606 career rebounds, respectively. She is Morningside’s all-time leader with 116 career 3-point field goals.
Aside from receiving the Mustangs’ Most Valuable Player award, Cloud also received the team’s Most Valuable Offensive Player award.
The Mustangs’ Most Valuable Defensive Player award went to Jill Pudenz, a 5-9 junior guard from Iowa Falls, Iowa. Pudenz ranked second on the team with 105 steals for an average of 2.8 thefts per contest to compliment norms of 9.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Beth Watson, a 5-10 junior guard from Elk Horn, Iowa, received the Sixth Man award. Watson was the top scorer off the Mustangs’ bench with an average of 7.4 points per game and ranked second on the team with 71 3-point field goals.
Vanessa Hasley, a 5-6 junior guard from Ottumwa, Iowa, received the Most Improved Player award. Hasley averaged 2.1 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. She played in 37 of the Mustangs’ 38 contests and made the first start of her collegiate career in the championship game of the NAIA Division II National Tournament.
Morningside posted a 35-3 record during the 2004-05 season to set a school record for victories in a season and won its second consecutive NAIA Division II National Championship when it defeated Cedarville University 75-65 in the title game of the national tournament.
School
Records Fall During Championship Season
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Brittany
Carper |
Megan Coud |
Morningside’s
women’s basketball team broke 17 school records and
tied two others on their way to winning a second consecutive
NAIA Division II National Championship during the 2004-05
season.
The Mustangs, who defeated Cedarville University 75-65 in
the title game of the NAIA Division II National Tournament,
finished the season with a 35-3 record to set a school record
for victories and winning percentage at .921. The former records
of 34 wins and a .895 winning percentage came last season
when the Mustangs were 34-4.
Brittany Carper, a 5-11 senior guard from Sioux City,
and Megan Cloud, a 5-8 senior guard from Sioux City,
were the Mustangs’ individual record setters. Both played
in 134 games during their careers to break the former Morningside
record of 121 games played set by 2004 graduate Kate Lokken.
Carper led the Mustangs with 217 assists for an average of
5.9 per game to raise her career total to a school-record
734 assists. She broke the former Morningside record of 544
career assists set by Colleen Holland from 1990-94. Carper
also finished with 359 career steals to break the former Morningside
record of 276 steals by Lokken. Carper, who was already the
Mustangs’ career free throw record holder entering the
season, finished her career with 542 made free throws.
Carper finished her career as the third leading scorer and
ninth leading rebounder in Morningside history with 2,183
career points and 719 career rebounds, respectively.
Cloud, the Mustangs’ leading scorer and rebounder this
season with norms of 19.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game,
finished her career as the second leading scorer and 12th
leading rebounder in Morningside history with 2,209 career
points and 606 career rebounds, respectively.
She led the Mustangs with 116 3-point field goals this season
to raise her career total to a school-record 317 3-pointers.
She broke the former Morningside record of 303 career 3-point
field goals held by Lokken. Cloud also tied one of Lokken’s
school records when she made 25 consecutive free throw attempts
during a stretch from Jan. 22 to Feb. 19.
Aside from leading the Mustangs in scoring and rebounding,
Cloud also topped the Mustangs with 125 steals for an average
of 3.3 per game and led the team in field goal accuracy and
free throw accuracy with 246 field goals in 537 attempts for
45.8 percent and 138 free throws in 171 attempts for 80.7
percent.
The Mustangs’ most accurate 3-point shooter was Jennifer
Francescon, a 5-8 junior guard from Moline, Ill., who
made 57 of 141 3-point field goal attempts for 40.4 percent.
Morningside juniors Jill Pudenz, Kayla Wibben,
and Beth Watson are also climbing the career charts.
Pudenz, a 5-9 guard from Iowa Falls, Iowa, is the 23rd leading
scorer in Morningside history with 791 career points and the
26th leading rebounder with 349 career rebounds. Wibben, a
5-10 forward from Ellsworth, Minn., and Watson, a 5-11 guard
from Elk Horn, Iowa, are 28th and 30th on Morningside’s
all-time scoring list with 718 and 701 career points, respectively.
The Mustangs were the best defensive team in school history
as they held their opposition to a scoring average of 57.1
points per game to shatter the former school record of 63.0
ppg in 1980-81. The most impressive single game defensive
display came in a 98-33 triumph against Dana College on Feb.
16. The Vikings’ 33 points were the fewest ever by a
Morningside opponent, breaking the former record of 40 points
by Wayne State College on Dec 8, 1988.
Morningside also set a single-game record with 31 steals and
tied a record with 28 assists in the Feb. 16 win against Dana.
The Mustangs set school single-game records for field goal
accuracy when they made 32 of 51 attempts for 62.7 percent
in a 106-72 triumph against Dakota Wesleyan University on
Jan. 8 and for 3-point field goal accuracy with 12 treys in
18 attempts for 66.7 percent in a 100-62 win against Nebraska
Wesleyan University on Feb. 2.
The Mustangs put together a school-record 31-game home court
winning streak that stretched from Feb. 8, 2003 to Feb. 26
of this season. Morningside also won a school-record 12 consecutive
games away from home from Feb. 28, 2004 to Dec. 7 of this
season.
 Morningside
College repeated as the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball
National Champion when it defeated Cedarville University 75-65
in a rematch of last year's title game on Tuesday in Sioux
City's Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena.
Morningside, which
defeated Cedarville 87-74 in last year's title game to win
its first-ever national championship, finished the season
with a record of 35-3 to set a school record for victories
in a season.
Cedarville, 35-2
and the American Mideast Conference (AMC) champions, had a
22-game winning streak come to an end. The Yellow Jackets
had entered the tournament as the No. 1-ranked team in the
nation, while Morningside had been ranked second.
The Mustangs held
Cedarville, the nation's second highest scoring team with
an average of 87.1 points per game, to its lowest scoring
total of the season.
Cloud scored a game-high
28 points for the national champions, including 18 in the
first half. The Mustangs had a 35-1 record over the past two
seasons when Cloud has scored 20 points or more. She was the
Mustangs' leading scorer in all five of their national tournament
contests and the team's top scorer in 14 of their final 16
games.
Cloud was named
the national tournament's Most Valuable Player for the second
year in a row and was joined on the all-tournament team by
teammate Brittany Carper.
Mustang head coach
Jamie Sale was named the NAIA Division II National Coach of
the Year for the second year in a row.
Cloud made five
3-point field goals in the contest, raising her career total
to a school-record 317 3-pointers.
Cloud received double
figure scoring support from Jill Pudenz, who scored 14 points,
and Brittany Carper, who scored 12 point to go along with
game highs of 12 assists and five steals. Vanessa Hasley added
a career-high eight points in her first career start. The
Mustangs completed their scoring summary with seven points
from Jennifer Francescon and three each from Lindsey Chettinger
and Beth Watson.
Aside from her scoring
exploits, Cloud also pulled down nine rebounds, but it wasn't
enough to prevent a 46-34 Cedarville rebounding advantage
as the Yellow Jackets' Emily Delimpo pulled down a game-high
20 caroms.
The Mustangs entered
the game without the services of starting forward Kayla Wibben,
who suffered a knee injury during Monday's semifinal round
victory against Evangel University. Her replacement, Hasley,
made a 3-point field goal to open the games scoring at the
18:32 mark of the first half. Pudenz followed with a baseline
jumper to give the Mustangs an early 5-0 lead.
Cedarville proceeded
to go on a 13-2 scoring run to open a 13-7 advantage with
13 minutes left.
Cloud answered with
a pair of 3-pointers and Carper made a jumper from the key
to tie the score at 15-15 with 10:18 left in the half. Cloud
then struck from 3-point range again to put the Mustangs in
front 18-15 with 7:32 left. The Mustangs completed a 10-2
run on a layup by Jennifer Francescon to take a 20-17 lead.
After Smart tied
the score at 20 with a 3-pointer, Cloud scored on successive
drives to the basket to put the Mustangs in front to stay
at 24-20. The Mustangs opened their biggest advantage of the
half when Chettinger and Cloud struck for back-to-back 3-pointers
to make it a 39-30 game going into the intermission.
The Mustangs pushed their lead into double figures early in
the second half when Pudenz made a 3-pointer with 18:21 left
to give the Mustangs a 44-34 advantage.
Hasley, who had
made only two 3-pointers all season coming into the game,
struck for her second 3-pointer of the game with 9:16 left
to give the Mustangs an 11-point lead, their largest advantage
to that point, at 58-47. The Mustangs then increased the lead
to a game-high 14 points, 61-47, on a 3-pointer by Cloud with
8:35 left.
Click here
for complete game statistics.
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| Megan
Cloud |
Brittany
Carper |
Morningside's Megan
Cloud, a 5-8 senior guard from Sioux City, has been named
the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Player of the
Year to headline the 2005 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball
All-America team released Tuesday, March 15.
In addition to
Cloud, Morningside’s Brittany Carper, a 5-11
senior guard from Sioux City, was named to the All-America
second-team. Carper, the 2004 NAIA Division II National Player
of the Year, was a first-team selection last year.
The two senior
standouts helped lead Morningside to a 35-3 record this season
and a second consecutive NAIA Division II National Championship
after it defeated Cedarville University 75-65 in Tuesday’s
title game.
Morningside’s
Jamie Sale was named the NAIA Division II National
Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. Sale
has a 93-42 record for a .689 winning percentage in four seasons
at Morningside after inheriting a program that had experienced
eight consecutive losing seasons.
Cloud, who was named
the 2005 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Player of
the Year earlier this winter, was the Mustangs’ leading
scorer and rebounder this season with averages of 19.6 points
and 6.0 rebounds per game. She was the Mustangs’ leading
scorer in 25 of their 38 games as well as their top rebounder
23 times. Cloud had the Mustangs’ top single-game scoring
performance of the season with 33 points in an 85-82 win against
Northwestern College on Jan. 29.
Aside from leading
the team in scoring and rebounding, Cloud also topped the
Mustangs with 125 steals for an average of 3.3 thefts per
game and ranked second on the team with 156 assists for a
norm of 4.1 per game. She made 246 of 537 field goal attempts
for 45.8 percent, a team-high 116 3-point field goals in 304
attempts for 38.2 percent, and 138 of 171 free throw attempts
for 80.7 percent. Cloud tied a Morningside record by making
25 consecutive free throws during the season.
Cloud is Morningside’s
all-time leader with 317 career 3-point field goals. She finished
her career as the second leading scorer and 12th leading rebounder
in Morningside history with 2,209 career points and 606 career
rebounds, respectively. She also ranks second in the Mustangs’
record book with 352 career steals.
Carper was the Mustangs’
second leading scorer and rebounder with averages of 14.7
points and 5.1 rebounds per game as well as the team leader
with 217 assists and 37 blocked shots for averages of 5.9
assists and 1.0 blocked shots per game. She ranked third on
the team with 95 steals for an average of 2.6 thefts per contest.
Carper had the Mustangs’ top single-game rebound performances
of the season with 13-board hauls in a 75-55 triumph against
NCAA Division II Bemidji State University on Dec. 30 and in
a 68-57 win against Tabor College on March 11 in the second
round of the NAIA Division II National Tournament.
Carper made 188
of 438 field goal attempts for 42.9 percent, 34 of 93 3-point
field goal attempts for 36.6 percent, and 135 of 168 free
throw attempts for 80.4 percent.
Carper finished
her career as the third leading scorer and 10th leading rebounder
in Morningside history with 2,183 career points and 719 career
rebounds, respectively. She is Morningside’s all-time
leader with 734 career assists and 359 career steals.
Click here
for the complete 2005 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball
All-America team.
 Beth
Watson, a 5-11 junior guard from Elk Horn, Iowa, has been
named a 2005 Daktronics Women’s Basketball NAIA All-America
Scholar-Athlete.
Watson has a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (GPA) with
majors in religious studies and psychology counseling.
Watson is the top scorer off the Mustangs’ bench with
an average of 7.5 points per game and ranks second on the
team with 70 3-point field goals. She has made 98 of 229 field
goal attempts for 42.8 percent, 70 of 182 3-point field goal
attempts for 38.5 percent, and 11 of 13 free throw attempts
for 84.6 percent. Watson, who is averaging 1.6 rebounds per
game, has dealt 27 assists and come up with 25 steals.
She is the 30th leading scorer in Morningside history with
698 career points.
Daktronics Women’s Basketball NAIA All-America Scholar-Athletes
must be of at least junior status and have a cumulative GPA
of 3.50 or higher.
Click here
for the complete Daktronics Women's Basketball NAIA All-America
Scholar-Athlete team.
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| Megan
Cloud |
Brittany
Carper |
Morningside’s
Megan Cloud, a 5-8 senior guard from Sioux City, is
the 2005 Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference
(GPAC) Women’s Basketball Player of the Year to headline
the 2005 GPAC All-Conference team as selected by the league’s
13 head coaches.
Cloud, who moved up from last year’s All-GPAC second-team,
is joined on the All-GPAC first-team by Mustang teammate Brittany
Carper, a 5-11 senior guard from Sioux City. Carper is
a repeat first-team selection and was last year’s GPAC
Player of the Year.
In addition to their two first-team selections, the Mustangs’
Jill Pudenz, a 5-9 junior guard from Iowa Falls, Iowa,
was named to the All-GPAC second-team and Kayla Wibben,
a 5-10 junior forward from Ellsworth, Minn., was named to
the All-GPAC honorable mention list.
Cloud is the leading scorer (19.1 ppg) and rebounder (5.8
rpg) for a Morningside team that won the GPAC’s regular
season championship with a 17-1 league mark and will take
a 30-3 record into next week’s NAIA Division II National
Tournament. She has been the Mustangs’ leading scorer
in 20 of their 33 games as well as their top rebounder in
20 times. Cloud has the Mustangs’ top single-game scoring
performance of the season with 33 points in an 85-82 win against
Northwestern College on Jan. 29.
Cloud also tops the Mustangs with 106 steals for an average
of 3.2 thefts per game and ranks second on the team with 135
assists for a norm of 4.1 per game. Cloud has made 211 of
450 field goal attempts for 46.9 percent, a team-high 100
3-point field goals in 253 attempts for 39.5 percent, and
108 of 134 free throw attempts for 80.6 percent. She tied
a Morningside record by making 25 consecutive free throw attempts
during the season.
Cloud ranks second in the GPAC in steals and in 3-point field
goals with an average of 3.0 per game. She is third in the
conference in scoring, fourth in assists, sixth in free throw
percentage, and eighth in 3-point field goal percentage.
With 301 career 3-point field goals, Cloud is just two treys
shy of the Morningside record of 303 career 3-point field
goals by Kate Lokken from 2000-04. Cloud is the third leading
scorer and 12th leading rebounder in Morningside history with
2,093 career points and 572 career rebounds, respectively.
Carper is the Mustangs’ second leading scorer and rebounder
with averages of 15.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game as
well as the team leader with 184 assists and 34 blocked shots
for averages of 5.8 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game.
She ranks third on the team with 84 steals for an average
of 2.6 thefts per contest. Carper has the Mustangs’
top single-game rebounding performance of the season with
13 caroms in a 75-55 triumph against NCAA Division II Bemidji
State University on Dec. 30. She has made 169 of 389 field
goal attempts for 43.4 percent, 32 of 82 3-point field goal
attempts for 39.0 percent, and 121 of 146 free throw attempts
for 82.9 percent.
She leads the GPAC in assists and ranks fifth in the conference
in free throw percentage, fifth in blocked shots, seventh
in steals, eighth in scoring, and 10th in 3-point field goal
percentage.
Carper is Morningside’s all-time leader with 701 career
steals and 348 career steals. She is the second leading scorer
in Morningside history with 2,129 career points and is 11th
on the Mustangs’ all-time rebounding list with 682 career
rebounds.
Pudenz, who earned All-GPAC honorable mention recognition
last season, is averaging 9.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per
game. She ranks second on the team with 94 steals for an average
of 2.8 per game. Pudenz also has 52 assists for a norm of
1.6 per game. She has made 104 of 243 field goal attempts
for 42.6 percent, 11 of 49 3-point field goal attempts for
22.4 percent, and 92 of 126 free throw attempts for 73.0 percent.
She ranks fifth in the GPAC with her average of 2.8 steals
per game.
Pudenz is the 27th leading scorer and 28th leading rebounder
in Morningside history with 736 career points and 330 career
rebounds, respectively.
Wibben is averaging 9.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game to
go along with 64 steals and 25 assists. She has made 128 of
282 field goal attempts for 45.4 percent, 20 of 67 3-point
field goal attempts for 29.9 percent, and 28 of 43 free throw
attempts for 65.1 percent.
Wibben is the 30th leading scorer in Morningside history with
695 career points.
Click here
for the complete 2005 All-GPAC Women's Basketball team.
Morningside’s
women’s basketball team is ranked No. 2 in the nation
in the final NAIA Division II poll released Tuesday, March
1.
The Mustangs, reigning NAIA Division II National Champions,
are ranked second for the fifth week in a row.
The Mustangs, the regular season Great Plains Athletic Conference
(GPAC) champions with a 17-1 league record, will take a 30-2
record and a school-record 31-game home-court winning streak
into a contest against sixth-ranked Concordia University in
the championship game of the GPAC's post-season tournament.
Morningside is one of four teams from the GPAC ranked in the
NAIA Division II Top 25. Concordia University is sixth, Doane
College is 11th, and Hastings College is 15th.
Click here
for the complete NAIA Division II Top 25.
 Brittany
Carper, a 5-11 senior guard from Sioux City, has been named
to the 2005 ESPN the Magazine College Division Academic All-District
VII Women’s Basketball third team as selected by College
Sports Information Directors of America (CoSDIA).
Carper has a 3.35 cumulative grade point average (GPA) with
a major in business administration.
Carper is the Mustangs’ second leading scorer and rebounder
this season with averages of 15.6 points and 4.9 rebounds
per game. She leads the Mustangs with 155 assists for an average
of 5.5 per game.
She earned NAIA Division II first-team All-America honors
last year and was the 2004 NAIA Division II National Player
of the Year after helping lead the Mustangs to the NAIA Division
II National Championship.
To be selected to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District
teams, an athlete must be of at least sophomore status and
have a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or higher.
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