Pride highlight senior day by clinching Heart regular season title

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Hosting their last home game of the regular season, the Clarke University women's basketball team ran away with a 92-77 victory over Missouri Valley College on Saturday afternoon.

Honoring 10 total seniors including graduate assistant Mackenzie Baker, managers Jaylah Rayford, Cassidy Grady, and Haley Haase, and players Camdyn Penick, Jenna Blunt, Madison Lindauer, Izzie Peterson, Taylor Haase, and Nicole McDermott, the Pride were able to celebrate the day in more than one way that included clinching the outright Heart of America Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship just three days after clinching the No. 1 seed in the Heart Tournament in their previous game.

The Heart regular season title is the program's second in three seasons after doing so in the 2021-22 season as their 21-1 conference record can no longer be caught and their 25-1 clinches at least a tie of the best regular season record in program history with their 2022-23 season that finished at 25-3 as the 2023-24 team has two regular season games remaining.

As for the game that was played on the court, three quarters between the Pride and Vikings were separated between just one point but a 21-7 second quarter told the story of CU's 15-point victory as Missouri Valley struggled from the field, going 3-for-14 (21.4%) and turning the ball over six times in the 10-minute period while on the opposite end, Clarke did all of their damage in the two-point area, going 8-for-15 (53.3%) from the field and knocking down five of their six free throw attempts.

McDermott was the scoring catalyst in the second quarter, scoring nine of her 18 points in the second as she finished shooting 5-of-8 (62.5%) from the field, going perfect from both three point range (1-1) and from the free throw line (7-7) while adding six rebounds, five steals, and three assists.

Fellow seniors in Haase, Lindauer, and Peterson all had strong performances of their own as Haase finished with the team-high 20 points and matched McDermott's six rebounds, Lindauer added 15 points and five rebounds, and Peterson finished with five points and a game-high six assists with no turnovers as well.

The Pride bench unit of Mya Merschman, Maci Kuchta, and Taylor Norris combined for 34 points as Merschman finished with 18 on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, Kuchta added 10 points and Norris finished with six points and four rebounds.

Clarke's ability to make free throws made a significant difference as they finished 26-for-28 (92.9%) while the Vikings only took nine shots to make eight on the day.

MVC wouldn't throw in the towel but could never make a significant run to break through any closer than a 10-point margin despite the best efforts of the Heart's leading scorer Giavanna Moore, who scored 15 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter as she would finish with seven rebounds, an assist, and a steal in 33 minutes on the floor. 

Clarke women's basketball will finish out the regular season on the road as they will open their final week of the regular season in Oskaloosa, Iowa against William Penn University on Feb. 21 for a 5:30 p.m. CT tip between the Statesmen and Pride.