GRAND FORKS, N.D.--All the Fighting Sioux women's basketball team wanted for Christmas was a 12th straight win heading into the holiday break.
That's exactly what it received after the top-ranked Sioux put forth their highest scoring output in five years in a 109-85 win over Bemidji State tonight at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
Senior center Ashley Langen (Kennedy, Minn.) turned in a dominant 29-point, 15-rebound performance to help send the Sioux home for the holidays with a 12-0 record.
Langen spearheaded an inside triple threat for the Sioux, who also received a combined 32 points from forwards Kierah Kimbrough (Jr., Greenbush, Minn.) and Whitney Ledger (So., Bismarck, N.D.). The duo combined to go 15-for-17 from the field, with Kimbrough scoring 20 points and Ledger adding 12.
UND as a team shot a season-high 58.1 percent from the field.
When UND's inside game wasn't at the forefront, sophomore guard Alys Seay (Grand Forks) took center stage, scoring a career-high 17 points.
That Sioux depth proved to be the difference down the stretch, as UND turned a three-point early second-half lead into a 24-point blowout win.
When BSU senior center Stephanie Peterson scored an inside bucket with 15:12 left in the second half, the Beavers trailed by just three at 62-59.
But Kimbrough scored on back-to-back possessions to make it 67-59 with just over 13 minutes remaining.
From that point on the Beavers could draw no closer than to within seven points. With UND's post players dominating inside and Seay knocking down baseline jumpers on the outside, the Sioux were able to pull away from a pesky Beaver team that twice led late in the first half.
Junior guard Danye Guinn (St. Francis, Minn.) also got in on the scoring action, picking up 12 points to go with six assists.
Fellow Sioux guard Karla Beck (Sr., Munich, N.D.) led all players with a career-high 11 assists, a number topped by only five other players in school history.
Peterson had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Beavers, who were led by 24 points by Heidi Matzke. Karlee Simonson added 17 points, while point guard Amy Lawson had 14 assists and turned the ball over seven times.
UND will return from the Christmas break on Dec. 28 when the Sioux host Division I foe Montana State at the Engelstad Sioux Center.
Notes: Langen moved into fourth place on both UND's all-time scoring and rebounding lists. She also moved into second place on the school's career free throw list ... UND outrebounded BSU 42-33 and has now outrebounded its opponent in 33 consecutive games.
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