What's on tap
On Saturday, January 31, the Fighting Sioux women's basketball team will take on former fellow North Central Conference member South Dakota for the second time this season. UND and USD - both in transition to Division I - will tip-off at 1 p.m. at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, SD.
Media information
All Fighting Sioux women's basketball games - home and away - can be heard on Cat Country 100.3 FM and on stations across the Fighting Sioux radio network. Paul Ralston handles the play-by-play.
Stay tuned for any schedule changes.
Links for live stats (not available for Saturday's game at USD), live radio audiocast, and a live audio/video webcast can be found on the Official Site of Fighting Sioux athletics, www.fightingsioux.com.
TICKET INFORMATION
Single-game tickets for all North Dakota home games are $12 ($10 game day) for adults and $9 ($8 game day) for youth. UND students admitted free with ID.
Visit www.ticketmaster.com for more information.
Ticket information for Saturday's game:
Adult Reserved $10
K-12 Reserved $5
Chairback Reserved $15
Last SIOUX ACTION
In its first overtime game of the season, North Dakota finished just short of victory as it fell to Ball State, 88-80 in front of a crowd of 1,154 at Worthen Arena.
With :50 left in regulation, junior Kayla Bagaason (G, Clearbrook, Minn.) sunk her fifth three-point basket to tie the game at 70-70. With no baskets to follow, it was sent into overtime.
The teams traded scores in the first two and a half minutes until BSU used six free throws and a jumper to take an 84-74 lead.
Both sophomore Mallory Youngblut (G, Davenport, Iowa) and junior Jossy Bergan (G, Valley City, N.D.) scored from beyond the arc, but with four more baskets form the charity stripe, the Cardinals came away with the eight-point, overtime victory.
Bagaason led the Sioux with a game- and career-high 27 points on 11-for-16 shooting from the field and a 5-for-6 showing from the three-point line. Her five from beyond the arc was also a personal-high and it was the first time in her career that she ended over the 20-point margin.
Three other players finished in double-digits for the Sioux. Youngblut shot 5-6 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line to end with 14 points. She has not missed a bonus bucket since Nov. 29.
With 13 points, senior Kierah Kimbrough (F, Greenbush, Minn.) tallied her 19th double-figure finish of the season and senior Danye Guinn (G, St. Francis, Minn.) rounded out the high scoring with 10 points.
Guinn and Bergan both recorded a career-high eight assists.
NOTING THE SIOUX
The overtime, 88-80 road loss to Ball State (Jan. 27) snapped a four-game win streak for the Fighting Sioux, including three-consecutive home victories.
Despite the loss, the Sioux shot a season-high 54.1 percent (33-for-61) from the field and 58.8 percent (10-for-17) from behind the arc.
At the free throw line, UND is shooting 71.7 percent (276-for-385) with all but one player shooting above 50 percent.
As a team, North Dakota is out-scoring it's opponents 1,479-1,338. Looked at half-by-half, UND holds a 698-645 advantage is the first have and is 771-675 in the second half.
At the top of the scoring list are senior captains Kierah Kimbrough (Greenbush, Minn.) and Danye Guinn (St. Francis, Minn.).
Kimbrough is averaging 19.3 points per game with 7.3 rebounds while Guinn is pitching in 10.9 points and 4.2 assists per game.
ALL-TIME VS. SOUTH DAKOTA
North Dakota leads the over 30-year-old series with South
Dakota 74-20. UND holds a 26-7 advantage in Grand Forks, a 17-13 advantage in Vermillion, and leads 1-0 on neutral ground.
The rivalry with the Coyotes was supercharged last season when the Sioux fell to USD in each of the three games played. Combined, the teams were separated by just 17 points.
But just one week ago, the North Dakota women's basketball team got just what it was looking for when it took a 75-59 victory over South Dakota in front of a packed house on at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
A pair of junior guards led the Sioux to victory with 15 points apiece. Junior Jossy Bergan (Valley City, N.D.) tallied 15 points on a career-high five three-pointers and junior Kayla Bagaason (Clearbrook, Minn.) shot 5-for-12 from the field with nine points from behind the arc.
After gaining entrance into the UND 1,000 point club, senior guard Danye Guinn (St. Francis, Minn.) recorded the first double-double of her career with 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
Senior forwards Kierah Kimbrough (Greenbush, Minn.) and junior Whitney Ledger (Bismarck, N.D.) finished with 11 points apiece. It was the 15th consecutive double-figure game for Kimbrough this season and the 17th career for Ledger.
NOTING THE COYOTES
South Dakota has an overall record of 12-5. Last week the Coyotes lost to North Dakota 75-59.
Ashley Wiemann led the team with 16 points while Bridget Yoerger and Maggie Youngberg each had five rebounds.
USD had a nine-game winning streak earlier in the season.
The Coyotes are averaging 68.0 points per game and shooting 43.3 percent from the field. Yoerger leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 16.9 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game.
Yoerger has scored double-digits in 14 out of the 17 games while having 20-plus point scoring performances in six games this season. She has also had double-doubles in eight of the contests.
Ashley Wiemann is second on the team with a 12.6 ppg average while Mosley averages 9.1 ppg and Annie Roche has an 8.6 ppg average.
Wiemann leads the team with 63 three-pointers and has a team-high 48.8 three-point field goal shooting percentage.
Mosley leads the team in assists with 62 and is second on the team in rebounds with 99 total rebounds.
USD HEAD COACH RYUN WILLIAMS
Ryun Williams is in his first season as head basketball coach. Williams, who was the winningest women's basketball at Wayne State College, is the 10th head women's basketball coach in the history of the University of South Dakota.
Williams has an overall coaching record of 247-148 in his career. He begins his 14th season as a head coach.
In his 10 seasons at Wayne State, Williams took over a program that had won just 13 games the previous two seasons and turned it into an NCAA Tournament team.
His team's recorded 20 wins or more in three of the last four seasons and made appearances in the NCAA Division II North Central Region tournament in two of the last three seasons.
While at Wayne State, he compiled a 181-105 record (.632) and became the winningest women's basketball coach in school history.
In 2007-08, he guided the Wildcats to a 21-9 record, which included a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Williams' players have received plenty of postseason recognition. He has had players named WBCA All-American honorable mention, NSIC Player of the Year and NSIC Tournament MVP. Two players have earned NSIC Defensive Player of the Year honors, two have won the Dodie Martin and two were named the league's newcomers of the year.
Before taking over at Wayne State, Williams was the women's head coach at Sheridan College (Wyo.) for three seasons.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
All-time UND is 272-137 (.665) on the road and is 215-61 (.779) under Gene Roebuck. Over the past ten years, it has gone 89-28 (.761).
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED?
Since its first road trip, which started on the second day of the season, the North Dakota women's basketball team has logged 19,942 miles by air and ground.
They have touched down in 17 states - North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Ohio, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, New York, Vermont, Texas, and Indiana.
Still to be checked off of the list - South Dakota, and Washington.
PROTECT AND SERVE
All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 405-74 (.846) when it comes to defending their own court and are 309-30 (.912) under the tutelage of Gene Roebuck.
Since the program's beginning in 1974, the Green and White have gone undefeated in Grand Forks five times, including back-to-back seasons from 1997-1999. In those years, the Sioux were national champions.
LET'S GET BETTY TO RUMBLE
UND is 76-6 (.927) all-time at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, which opened prior to the 2004-05 season.
In 2007, UND drew 28,514 fans to its 15 home games, an average of 1,901 per game. In 2006, UND was cited by the WBCA for having the Best Fans and Best Facility in Division II.
