Notes, observations and other thoughts about basketball played at 38th and Central...

Women's basketball at NJCAA Division II National Tournament at Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on campus on Missouri Southern University in Joplin, Missouri.

Opening-round matchup
#7 Morton College (30-3) vs. #10 Harcum College (26-5)
Game time: 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 19^th
Broadcast: NJCAA Network ($12 per day pass, $35 for tournament
Interesting 7-10 first-round matchup. Both teams are top 10 offensively and top 5 defensively in the nation. Morton College leads the nation with 394 three-pointers, while Harcum defends the three at a nation's best 20.9 percent.

All about Harcum
Points per game (offense): 83.5 – 8^th nationally
Points per game (defense): 49.5 – 4^th nationally

Top players
Ciara Bailey (6-2 redshirt sophomore center) – 12.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 50.9% FG, 62 blocks
Mikaela Parris (5-9 sophomore wing) – 10.5 points, 4.4 rebounds)
Ellie Jansen-Holton (5-8 sophomore guard) – 8.7 points
Ayneigejah Ferguson-Dugas (5-9 sophomore wing) – 8.1 points
T'Nyah Riggins (5-3 sophomore guard) – 6.6 points, 3.7 assists)

All about Morton College
Points per game (offense) – 88.3 – 5^th nationally
Points per game (defense) – 49.3 – 3^rd nationally

Top players
Brynne Katcher (6-0 freshman forward) – 14.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 59 blocks
Nariah Clay (5-10 freshman guard) – 13.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 100 three-pointers
Sophia Remmel (5-6 freshman guard) – 12.6 points, 3.0 assists, 84 three-pointers
Alex Stewart (5-8 freshman guard) – 11.0 points, 4.1 rebounds
Shanihya Brown (5-4 sophomore guard) – 10.5 points, 2.1 steals, 56.4% FG
Antionique Auston (5-9 freshman forward) – 8.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.4 steals
Taylor Marquart (5-11 sophomore forward) – 8.3 points, 7.7 rebounds
Caroline Clemmer (5-7 sophomore guard) – 7.6 points

Flashback to 2021-22
A lot of parallels between the 2021-22 national runners-up and the 2023-24 Morton College teams:
Both are 30-3
Made the same number of three-pointers (394)
Enter the tournament with a No. 7 seed
Play first-round game against a team from the East – Harcum of PA this year and Union County of NJ in 2022.
 
Four in Region IV
Morton College's 102-59 win over Carl Sandburg in the Region IV Midwest District A championship game gave the Panthers their program-record fourth straight Region IV crown.
 
30 times 3
This season, Morton College reached the 30-win mark for the third consecutive time, a first in program history. The Panthers won 30 games in 2022, 34 in 2023 and 30 in 2024.
 
They're all here…
The three teams Morton College lost to during the regular season? They all made it into the field at the NJCAA Division II nationals.
 
Here they are….
#6 seed Mesa – Lost 77-71 November 11, 2023
#15 seed Lake Land – Lost 64-58 December 2, 2023
#17 seed North Central Missouri – Lost 68-60 December 15, 2023
 
Morton College at nationals
2021
Qualified, didn't participate
 
2022 (2^nd)
Union County W 56-52 (first round)
Johnson County W 62-57 (quarterfinals)
CCBC Essex W 84-72 (semifinals)
Kirkwood L 49-44 (championship)

2023 (5^th)
United Tribes W 78-47 (first round)
Richard Bland L 69-63 (quarterfinals)
Johnson County W 69-55 (fifth-place semifinals)
Bryant & Stratton W 69-61 (fifth place)
 
Team leaders
Double-figure games
Nariah Clay – 26
Shanihya Brown & Brynne Katcher – 22
Sophia Remmel – 21
Alex Stewart – 19
Antionique Auston – 17
Caroline Clemmer – 14
Taylor Marquart – 11

Double-double games
Brynne Katcher – 13
Antionique Auston – 7
Nariah Clay – 5
Taylor Marquart – 3
Alex Stewart – 2

20-point games
Brynne Katcher – 11
Nariah Clay – 7
Sophia Remmel – 6
Alex Stewart – 3
Antionique Auston & Caroline Clemmer – 1

Games with a 3-pointers
Nariah Clay – 31
Sophia Remmel – 28
Caroline Clemmer – 24
Alex Stewart – 22
Antionique Auston – 19
Brynne Katcher – 16
Shanihya Brown – 12
 
400-point club
Brynne Katcher – 465
Nariah Clay – 455
Sophia Remmel - 416
 
Getting the hang of things
Reverse transfers Shanihya Brown and Caroline Clemmer have emerged as the season went along.
 
Brown is ranked 15^th in the NJCAA Division II in field-goal percentage at 56.8 percent. After a slow start in November, Shanihya has made 63.2 percent (108 of 171) of her shots the past four months.
 
Clemmer's 47 three-pointers is third on team. She carries an 11-game streak of making a three-pointer entering the national tournament.
 
Badger brigade
The numbers by Taylor Marquart of Fort Atkinson, WI and Antionique Auston of Sun Prairie, WI are pretty similar – Marquart (8.3 points/7.7 rebounds) and Auston (8.7 points/7.4 rebounds).
 
Both are playing their best late in the season. Marquart's perfect second quarter with 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting from three enabled the Panthers to pull away from Carl Sandburg 102-59 in the Region IV finals, while Auston dropped 20 points in just 26 minutes in Morton College's 99-63 Region IV semifinal victory over Prairie State. Auston's also made two or more three-pointers in Morton College's last six games.
 
Just like old times
Tournament operations director Shaun Buck has fond memories of MC baseball alum Wayne Wente, who went on to play at Missouri Southern State University in the 1990s. The baseball players officiated youth basketball games in the Joplin community and Shaun remembered Wayne from that, saying, "I was just a little squirt and Wayne was one of my favorites."
 
Lake Land coach David Jackson coached Hannah Wolff, the wife of MC assistant coach Tony Smith, from 2002 to 2004. Jackson and Smith met as the teams were exchanging practice gym times on St. Patrick's Day Sunday.
 
Panther ties to Missouri Southern
Wayne Wente isn't the only ex-Panther baseball player with ties to Missouri Southern. Along with Wente were Dominick Schullo and Rick Lapka, who played there in 1993 and '94.
 
Wayne coached his son's team in Elmhurst to the Little League Midwest Region title game last summer. He also was an All-American in 1994.
 
Rick Lapka pitched in the minors for three seasons in the Cincinnati Reds system and one in independent baseball. Schullo returned home to Cicero where he is the town's Deputy Superintendent for the police department.
 
Their former teammate – Bryce Darnell – is the current head baseball coach at Missouri Southern.
 
How all it started
Harcum opened October 1, 1915 as Harcum Post Graduate School with three female students and five pianos.
Morton College opened September 15, 1924 as Morton Junior College with 11 teachers and 76 students.
 
Annie Oakley vs. David Rossi
Harcum claims Gail Davis, best known for starring as Annie Oakley in 1950s TV series Annie Oakley.
 
Morton College counts Joe Mantegna, who plays Special Agent David Rossi on Criminal Minds.
 
Shared health program
Morton College & Harcum both have thriving Physical Therapist Assistant programs.
 
Tragic ties
Morton College and Harcum share a tragic link to 9/11.
 
Morton College alumni Jeffrey Mladenik died on American Airlines Flight 11 when the hijacked plane crashed into the World Trade Center. Kevin Marlo, son of Harcum Trustee Dennis Marlo, died when a plane crashed into the World Trade Center.