Metro Sports Report

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.

McMurrin resigns as Mustangs coach

Raven McMurrin has resigned as the Mount Mercy women's soccer coach  after 13 years, Athletic Director Paul Gavin announced Friday.

McMurrin compiled an 80-147-13 record with the Mustangs. Her 80  victories are the most in school history by a women's soccer coach.

The Mustangs struggled this season with a 1-15-1 overall record and  0-11 mark in the Heart of America Conference.

Mustangs trim Viterbo in opener

LA CROSSE, Wis. - Davion Watson scored 21 points Thursday night as the  Mount Mercy men's basketball team trimmed Viterbo, 74-73, in the NAIA  season opener in La Crosse.

The Mustangs built a 14-point lead at 61-47 with 11:11 remaining on a  3-pointer by Streeter McIlravey, but Viterbo rallied and pulled within  74-73 on a 3-pointer with 47 seconds left.

Mount Mercy committed a turnover on its next possession, giving  Viterbo a shot for the victory, but the hosts missed a 3-pointer with  one second left to play.

Dennis McKinney scored 12 points for the Mustangs and Keishun Thomas  had 10. Bailey Basala grabbed seven rebounds and RoyShawn Webb had  four assists.

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.