GRAND FORKS, N.D. ? Four players found themselves in double figures as North Dakota ran past Jamestown, 91-62 in front on 1,632 fans at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
With the win, the Fighting Sioux remained undefeated at home this season and pushed their overall record to 3-4. They hold an unblemished 16-0 record when facing the Jimmies. Jamestown is now 3-8.
Senior Kierah Kimbrough (Greenbush, Minn.) led the Sioux with 23 points off of 10-of-16 shooting and a career-high five blocks. Sophomore Mallory Youngblut (Davenport, Iowa) tabbed her sixth double-figure game with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and a pair of three's.
Senior Danye Guinn (St. Francis, Minn.) notched 12 points and was 4-for-4 from the bonus line. Junior Jossy Bergan (Valley City, N.D.) was hot behind the arc with nine of her total 11 points coming from three-pointers. She and Youngblut had a team-high five assists apiece.
Off of the bench, junior Alys Seay (Grand Forks, N.D.) kept up the Sioux momentum. She scored seven points, had three steals in 18 minutes on the floor and was credited with blocking a three-pointer at 14:00 in the second half.
North Dakota shot just over 50 percent from the field, was 38.9 percent (7-for-18) from behind the arc and for the second game in a row, shot 80 percent or better from the free throw line.
Three Jimmies finished in double-figures as well. Allison Epping led with 16 points, followed by Heidi Fiechtner and Madeline Hornung with 13 and 10, respectively. Epping and Fiechtner accounted for all of Jamestown's 21 points in the opening 13 minutes of the game.
Much like last season's matchup, the Sioux used big runs to move up and out of the reach of the visiting Jamestown.
After winning the tipoff, it took a mere 10 seconds for Guinn to find the hole for the Sioux on a left side drive. With her follow-up basket, two jumpers from Kimbrough and a pass from Kimbrough to Youngblut for the score, UND found itself up on the Jimmies, 10-0, with just over three minutes off of the clock.
The early run developed into a 30-8 lead for the Sioux with more than 11 minutes still remaining in the half. The Jimmies were able to pull within 17 points, but with the help of back-to-back three-pointers by Bergan and a breakaway pass from junior Kayla Bagaason (Clearbrook, Minn.) to Seay, UND held a 26-point lead with two and a half minutes left on the clock.
Sophomore Corey Lof (Detroit Lakes, Minn.) scored the remainder of UND's seven first half points. She hit a jumper, a three-pointer and was credited with a buzzer-beater to give the home team a 57-30 advantage heading into the locker-room. The 57 points scored in the first 20 minutes is the most for the Sioux this season.
In the opening minutes of the second stanza, North Dakota out-scored Jamestown, 10-2, with Kimbrough scoring six points and Youngblut adding another four. They both had a steal at midcourt to help UND to its largest lead of the game, a 35-point advantage.
Like they did in the first half, the Jimmies clawed their way towards the Fighting Sioux, but were unable to cut the lead down to more that 23 points.
In the final two minutes, UND out-scored Jamestown, 5-1 to take the 91-62 victory.
North Dakota is back on the road for two games before returning to the Betty for a pair of home games. On Saturday, Dec. 6, UND will take on Toledo in Ohio at 1 p.m. and on Tuesday, Dec. 9 it will play Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark. starting at 7 p.m. The Sioux will play again at home on Wednesday, Dec. 17 when they host Mayville State for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
- Go Sioux -
Game Notes: Four players combined for UND's 26 points off of the bench, twenty points were scored off of Jamestown turnovers, and 17 points were scored on second chances ... The 91 points for the Fighting Sioux and the 29-point margin of victory is the highest tally for them this season ... Kimbrough is now listed No. 5 in all-time field goals made (637).
