December 8, 2017 By Chris Varney
Without a doubt, the Grinnell College women’s basketball team is overshadowed by the men. Maybe folks should take notice what the Pioneers have done in recent years. Dana Harrold has coached her team to back-to-back appearances in the Midwest Conference tournament. Standing in their way each time has been Cornell, whom Grinnell still has not beaten since they left the Iowa Conference and came back to the Midwest 4 years ago.
This year, the Pioneers will be hard pressed to make three straight appearances but that will not stop Kayla Morrissey from thinking about it. The Senior currently leads the MWC in scoring at 22.8 and wants another taste of post-season play. Grinnell must overcome the loss of 7 seniors — these same players were able to overcome the loss of the Pioneers third all-time leading scorer Alissa Hirsch last year to make it to the playoffs. However, Morrissey by herself has not been able to stop three losses in their first three conference games. All three games have been on the road so that makes Saturday’s game against Lawrence even more crucial.
If there is any one player who get this team back on track, it is Morrissey. She is from the Chicago area, Burr Ridge, IL to be exact. She lives and breathes sports — not a surprise since the Windy City is one of the top sports towns in the country. Morrissey is a dual sports star — she was the conference softball player of the year last season, despite Grinnell going only 11-23. You could have made a case that Morrissey was the best basketball player in the MWC last season too but Cornell’s Diamond Boyd beat her out for that award. Right now, she is only 138 points away from passing Hirsch on Grinnell College’s all-time scoring list.
Morrissey came to Grinnell as a General Science major but really has turned into a General Sports star. She is still a star in the classroom — Morrissey has been an academic all-conference selection her previous three years — but the pull of sports is too strong. She says she wants to be a coach when she graduates from Grinnell and will seek a grad degree at the same time as she starts a coaching career. There will be schools waiting in line to have her.
The Pioneers have some young talent, freshman Tyria Heath has stood out so far. Freshman Olivia Woolam can hit three pointers. Grinnell was counting on Freshman Kathryn Stender — another Chicago product — to handle the point guard spot but she went down in the pre-season with a season ending injury. But if this team wants a post-season berth, it will be the play of Morrissey that will take them there.
Grinnell College hosts Lawrence on Saturday in a Men/Women Doubleheader starting at 1:00, coverage on 1410 KGRN and myiowainfo.com. You can hear my interview with Morrissey from last night’s Extra Point at myiowainfo.com.
