Mt. Mercy Women's Basketball

Tough fourth quarter dooms Mustangs

LA CROSSE, Wis. - The Mount Mercy women's basketball team scored only  one point in the fourth quarter Friday and lost to Viterbo, 62-47, in  the season opener.

The Mustangs led 46-45 after three periods, but they were outscored  17-1 in the final stanza to fall by the wayside.

Abbi Kinnaird led Mount Mercy off the bench with 15 points on five  3-pointers. Brianna Thomas scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Alyssa Nilssen scored 19 points for Viterbo.

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Eagles, Mustangs ready for new season

Tim Sandquist inherited a deep and talented team when he became the  new men's basketball coach at Kirkwood Community College this summer.

Now he's made the 2019 national champions even deeper.

D.J. Purnell, who averaged 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds last season,  has transferred to Kirkwood from Midland College in Texas. And Owen  Coburn, a 6-foot-10 center who originally committed to South Dakota  State, has enrolled with the Eagles instead.

Purnell and Coburn signed with Kirkwood after Sandquist became the  head coach. They join a half-dozen returning players who helped  Kirkwood win the NJCAA Division II national title last March year,  giving Sandquist lots of options as the Eagles prepare for their  season opener Friday night against Illinois Central at the SCC Classic  in West Burlington.

Kirkwood begins the 2019-20 campaign as the top-ranked team in the  country, and Sandquist welcomes the assignment of trying to repeat as  national champs.

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Mount Mercy sets youth basketball camps

Mount Mercy University will be hosting youth basketball camps for boys and girls this summer at the Hennessey Recreation Center on campus.

The first session for the boys basketball camps will be held July 22-25 and the second session will be July 29-Aug. 1, from 8:30 to 3:30 p.m. each day. The cost is $175 per session, with discounts for multiple sessions and siblings. Lunch is not included.

The first session for the girls basketball camps will be held July 8-12 and the second session will be July 15-18, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The cost is $160 per session, with a discount for siblings. Lunch is not included.

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Wright, Mia joining Mount Mercy basketball

Micha Mims has begun rebuilding the Mount Mercy women's basketball program with the addition of five new players for next season, including two players from right here in the Metro area.

Randi Wright, who was part of an incredible three-year streak at Marion High School, plans to continue her career at Mount Mercy after helping the Indians win the Class 4A state title in 2018 and claim runner-up honors in 2017 and 2019. Wright, 6-foot-1, averaged 5.4 points and 4.8 rebounds this season.

Sammy Mia, a 5-foot-8 guard from Cedar Rapids Washington, also has cast her fortunes with the Mustangs. Mia averaged 13.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals for the Warriors, who finished with a 16-6 record.

"It's exciting to have two players from right in our back yard," said Mims, who is a former Cedar Rapids Washington player herself.

Mims also has signed three teammates from the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) in Boone with Aliyah Robinson, Grace Stalzer and Taylor Abernathy.

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