SIOUX CITY, Iowa – (Box Score) There would be no drama this time around. One night after a furious rally back from 17 down to beat Oklahoma Wesleyan, top-ranked and No. 1 seed Morningside (Iowa) had its way with defending national champion Saint Francis (Ind.), winning by a 79-62 score in Saturday evening’s quarterfinal contest at the 2015 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship, presented by State Farm. The Mustangs will make their seventh all-time appearance in the Fab Four.

“We talked about the second half of yesterday and either one of two things were going to happen,” Morningside head coach Jamie Sale said. “We were either going to be thrilled with what we did and be done for the tournament or we were going to carry that momentum over. I think we came out a little more relaxed in this game and played a little better together. Jess (Tietz) having a good start inside had a big impact on the game.”

Sale’s squad, now 35-1 overall, built a double-digit lead after fewer than six minutes elapsed after tipoff. With Ashlynn Muhl sidelined for the national championship, fellow frontcourt mate Tietz has thrived. She burned the Cougars for 22 points and 11 rebounds in 23 minutes of floor time. She’s now averaging 15.3 points over her team’s first three tournament games.

The Mustangs, champions of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) regular season, got significant contributions off the bench from Allison Bachman (13 points) and Mandy Osborne (11 points and eight rebounds). In a play that characterized the night, Osborne banked in a long three in the first half. It seemed to be a clear signal that it was Morningside’s night.

Tietz and company led 41-25 at the half and maintained an advantage of at least 12 points the rest of the way. In front of a large hometown Sioux City crowd, Morningside took the momentum to the break after Osborne came up with a steal and a layup just before the buzzer sounded.

The Mustangs turned away the Cougars (25-10) thanks in part to advantages of 40-16 in points in the paint and a 27-15 edge in points off turnovers. Though Taylor Bahensky went 2-for-11 from the field, the Mustangs made up for it with their impressive depth. Madison Braun led the way for the backcourt. She posted 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting.

The loss snapped a seven-game national tournament win streak for Saint Francis, which rolled through the 2013-14 season with an undefeated record. Junior forward Brook Ridley did her part in the Cougars’ bid for a second-straight title. She put up 19 points and eight rebounds. Teammate Akyah Taylor added 11 points and seven boards.

“I’m proud of our kids. They battled,” Saint Francis head coach Gary Andrews said. “Morningside’s No. 1 for a reason. The things we’ve had to work on most all year is our ball handling and passing. When you play Morningside they accentuate your weaknesses. They did a great job and their defense gave us trouble.”

Morningside joins No. 1-seeded Concordia (Neb.) (34-2) and fifth-seeded Briar Cliff (Iowa) (26-9) as the third GPAC team to earn a spot in the national semifinals. The Mustangs will play either No. 1-seeded Saint Xavier (Ill.) (31-3) or third-seeded Hastings (Neb.) (24-8) at 6 p.m. CDT on Monday in the first of two semifinal matchups. Both games can be seen live via ESPN3.com.

Morningside has gone head-to-head this season with each of the remaining teams. Its only loss came in the GPAC tournament title game against Concordia.

“We’re very familiar all the teams left,” Sale said. “It doesn’t surprise me at all that the GPAC teams have done this well – not just the four that are here. We have four or five other teams that were really difficult to play against this year. If we have to play a GPAC team we know it’s going to be tough, but if it’s Saint Xavier they’re a great team, too.”