SIOUX FALLS, S.D.--The third-ranked Fighting Sioux didn't panic when trailing by 13 points midway through the first half. And they didn't panic when a 15-point second-half lead dwindled to just five with three minutes remaining.
Junior guard Danye Guinn (St. Francis, Minn.) calmly knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner to give UND some breathing room in the form of an eight-point lead with 2:34 left in the game. Guinn's clutch three helped lift the Sioux an 83-75 win over No. 25 Augustana tonight at the Elmen Center, UND's fifth straight North Central Conference win.
The Vikings, who lost by 41 earlier this month in Grand Forks, jumped on the Sioux early with red-hot shooting, knocking down 10 of their first attempts from the floor.
UND, meanwhile, struggled to find its shooting rhythm for much of the first half. Sioux scoring leaders Ashley Langen (Sr., Kennedy, Minn.) and Kierah Kimbrough (Jr., Greenbush, Minn.) in particular got off to a rocky start, with the post duo combining to hit just four of their first 11 shots.
But the Sioux chipped away at the 13-point deficit with a furious 17-4 run over the final six minutes of the first half.
Reserve guard Jossy Bergan (So., Valley City, N.D.) got things started to make it a 35-28 Augie lead with 5:34 left in the half. Then Langen and Kimbrough heated up, scoring 12 of UND's last 14 points of the half. Langen hit a turnaround bank shot with five seconds left to send the Sioux into the locker room leading 42-39.
The halftime break did nothing to cool the Sioux, who opened the period with a 15-3 run with senior guard Karla Beck (Munich, N.D.) scoring all nine of her points during that stretch.
Then when Beck found Mallory Youngblut (Fr., Davenport, Iowa) on the fast break, UND seemed to be in control with a 59-44 lead with 13:50 remaining. The assist was one of a game-high seven for Beck.
Augie still trailed by as many as 12 with just under eight minutes on the clock, but over the next five minutes the Vikings shrunk the deficit to five, with a Molly Hayes three-pointer making it 75-70 with 3:02 to play.
But Guinn answered with her win-preserving three on the following possession, allowing the Sioux to escape with their third straight road win over the Vikings.
Langen finished with 24 points and 16 rebounds, shaking off a 2-for-6 start from the field to hit seven of her last nine shots.
Kimbrough added 18 points ad six rebounds, while sophomore guard Alys Seay (Grand Forks) chipped in with 11 points, five assists, three rebounds and a steal.
Augie''s Hayes, a freshman, led all players with 25 points and added six steals. Junior post Whitney Hofer had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists before fouling out late in the game.
UND, now 22-1 overall and 7-1 in the NCC, will now move on to Minnesota Duluth to face the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.
Notes: Langen moved past Sheri Kleinsasser (1991-95) and into second place on UND's all-time scoring list. Former two-time national player of the year Jenny Crouse (1995-99) is UND's all-time leading scorer with 2,284 career points ... Kimbrough moved past Kami Winger (1995-99) for 15th on the school's all-time scoring list ... UND finished with 24 assists, the team's fifth straight game with at least 20 ... Former Sioux standout Tracey Pudenz (1990-94) was in attendance.
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