BURLINGTON, Vt. ? North Dakota senior Kierah Kimbrough (F, Greenbush, Minn.) ended with her third double-double of the season and senior Danye Guinn (G, St. Francis, Minn.) finished in double-figures, but a double-double by Vermont's Andrea Cihal helped the Catamounts to a 63-49 victory over the North Dakota women's basketball team in front of a crowd of 863 in the Patrick Gymnasium.
With their first loss to an America East Conference member, the Fighting Sioux fell to 6-9. The Catamounts improved to 6-7 and snapped a five-game losing streak.
For the 14th time this season, Kimbrough finished in double digits. She led the Sioux with 19 points, 10 rebounds and a team-high two blocked shots. Ten of her points came in the first half.
Guinn was silenced in the second half after she tallied 10 points in the final four and a half minutes of the first half.
Off of the bench, sophomores Mallory Youngblut (G, Davenport, Iowa) and Andrea LaFrance (G, Bismarck, N.D.) and freshman Ashley Privratsky (G, Devils Lake, N.D.) combined for 13 points.
The Sioux finished 16-for-57 (.281) shooting and were 14-for-19 (.737) from the bonus line. Cold from behind the three-point line, they finished 3-for-17 (.176).
“Our perimeter players have been inconsistent,” said head coach Gene Roebuck. “One will step up one game and another will step up the next game. We need to have consistency. Until we find that, we are going to be an up and down team.”
Cihal led the Catamounts with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Also in double digits were Courtney Pilypaitis, Tonya Young, and May Kotsopoulos They finished with 15, 10, and 10 points, respectively. They were the only players on the UVM squad to hit a shot from beyond the arc.
Pilypaitis also recorded a game-high five assists.
“We need to play hard for the full 40 minutes if we are going to win at this level,” Roebuck said. “The teams we have played, outside of couple, have all been winnable games if we compete. That's the bottom line. We need to have the mental toughness, play hard for 40 minutes, and knockdown shots.”
UVM was held under the 50 percent mark at well with a 20-for-51 (.392) finish from the field. The team shot 20-for-29 (.690) from the charity stripe and was 3-for-9 (.333) from behind the arc.
Kimbrough had six points in the first five minutes, including the opening bucket at 19:14, but the Sioux were unable to hold off the Catamounts. With the addition of a free throw by Vermont's Sofia Iwobi, UND trailed the Catamounts, 17-10, with 10:55 on the clock.
Held to just one free throw in the five minutes that followed, North Dakota dropped into a 10-point deficit.
After Kimbrough hit two bonus buckets at 5:23, Guinn, with no other option, drove across the left side baseline into traffic and gently rolled the ball in for two points. In the final four minutes of the half, she tacked on eight more points with the help of two dishes from LaFrance. The 16-8 UND run was capped by a layup from Guinn setup by a cross lane pass from sophomore Corey Lof (F, Detroit Lakes, Minn.).
As the teams headed into the locker-room, the score sat at 29-27 with the two-point favor on the side of Vermont.
“The last four to five minutes, we played with emotion,” Said Roebuck. “To me, you have to have emotion and mental toughness on the road. We didn't have that [emotion] to start the game, but those last minutes of the first half we showed that emotion and came back. That shows you what a little emotion can do.”
Pilypaitis opened the second half with a pair of baskets from the charity stripe to help the Catamounts to a four-point lead. Her two were quickly answered by a left side three-pointer from Bagaason to bring the Sioux within one.
Vermont used a 12-7 run to scratch its way up to a 43-37 lead. UVM was helped by a three-point shot by Tonya Young at 11:30.
The home team took its largest lead of the game, an 11-point advantage, with the help of a trey by Pilypaitis just outside the six-minute mark. One minute later, the lead was extended to 55-42 when Sarah Madey scored her first points of the game with a layup under the basket.
In the final five minutes of the ballgame, the Sioux were held to just one field goal ? a pull-up jumper by freshman Privratsky ? as the Catamounts went onto take a 63-49 victory on their home court.
Directly following the game, UND boarded the bus back to Albany, N.Y. Tomorrow afternoon, the team will depart New York enroute to its final destination ? Houston, Texas. On Tuesday, January 6, the Fighting Sioux will face their second first-time opponent of the New Year. At 7 p.m., the Sioux will have a courtside meeting with the Houston Baptist Huskies in the Sharp Gymnasium.
- Go Sioux -
Game Notes: Kimbrough is now listed No. 8 all-time in free throws made. She surpassed Dona Corcoran (1980-84) ... Vermont is the first American East opponent for the Sioux this season ... The Catamounts are the first-ever opponent from the Green Mountain State ... Noted alumni in the crowd ? Ron Pynn (for which the Ron Pynn Invitational is named and former member of the UND Political Science faculty) and Bill Harwood (son of the former Dean of the UND Medical School (1953-72), Dr. Ted Harwood and 1968 North Dakota graduate) and his wife Elaine.
