MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – The Grinnell College women's basketball team saw its historic season draw to a close Friday with a 62-47 loss to Cornell College in the Midwest Conference Tournament semifinal round.
 
The Pioneers, who were making their first back-to-back trips to the MWC Tournament since the early 1990s, finished with a 14-10 mark. That win total ranks fifth in program history. Grinnell's 12-6 record in league play matched the highest MWC win total for the program.
 
Kayla Morrissey '18 scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Pioneers. Alex Neckopulos '17 concluded a memorable career on the boards with seven, while Sophia Gatton '17 dished out three assists and had two steals.
 
Ariel Keller '17 had three steals, while others with two steals were Haley Lopez '17, Lydia Stariha '17 and Kaitlyn Norton '17.
 
Cornell scored the game's first eight points before Grinnell rallied, coming within five when Morrissey's free throws made it 11-6 with 4:02 left in the first period.
 
But Cornell bounced back to lead 23-11 after one period and 36-16 at halftime. The Pioneers could get no closer than 14 in the third period, which the Rams led 46-27 at the conclusion.
 
Cornell continued to hold command before the Pioneers made one last surge. Trailing 55-39, Grinnell got consecutive 3-pointers from Leah Greenberg '17 sandwiching a Cornell free throw to make it 56-45 with 1:12 remaining.
 
But the Rams answered with a four-point run and sewed up the win from there.
 
Grinnell dented the program's all-time list in several categories this season. The 2016-17 squad had the second-best scoring defense in Pioneer history, allowing 54.6 points per game. The team also ranked fourth all-time in field goal percentage defense (36.6 percent) and 3-point percentage defense (25.5 percent), and fifth in blocked shots with 82.
 
Individually, Morrissey made the second-most free throws in program history this season with 142 and scored the 10th-most amount of points with 396.
 
Neckopulos ranks third all-time for career rebounds with 789 and fourth in rebounding average with 8.6 per game. Norton ranks fourth all-time in 3-pointpercentage at 32.1 percent, while Morrissey is sixth in free throws made with 249 and ninth in points with 970 and blocked shots with 50.
 
Greenberg finished her career sixth in 3-pointers made with 100 and Gatton ranks eighth with 92. Neckopulos wound up 10th in career field goal percentage, hitting 44.9 percent of her shots.
 
Cornell, 20-4, moves on to play the winner of St. Norbert College and Ripon College in the title game Saturday.