GRAND FORKS, N.D. - After a slow start in the first half, the University of North Dakota finished with three players in double-figures to come away with a 57-50 victory over New Mexico State at the Pan American Center.
The win was not only the first for the Fighting Sioux (1-3) this season, and gave them the series lead over the Aggies (2-2).
"Sometimes you have to hit bottom before you start to move yourself up," head coach Gene Roebuck said, "And I think the Wyoming game was one where we lacked emotion and we lacked effort, but we bounced back today. It wasn't a real pretty game, but it was a physical battle that made our players play hard."
Senior Kayla Bagaason (G, Clearbrook, Minn.) finished with 19 points and seven rebounds to lead UND. She scored 11 of those points in the second half alone.
Junior Mallory Youngblut (G, Davenport, Iowa) was second on the team with 17 points and six rebounds and senior Jossy Bergan (Valley City, N.D.) finished with 12 points, including 10 points in the final 20 minutes.
All eight of UND's points off of the bench came from senior Alys Seay (Grand Forks, N.D.). She was credited with several big second-half plays that helped the Sioux maintain control of the scoreboard.
"This was a good game for Alys because she can really go to the basket," Roebuck said. "She did a real nice job of penetrating the play.
"I don't look at her as a substitute, but rather someone who can give us a spark off of the bench."
Crystal Boyd was the top scorer for NMSU (2-2). She finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Tabytha Wampler came away with eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
Neither team shot well from anywhere but the free throw line. UND was 17-for-53 (.321) from the field, 6-for-21 (.286) from the three-point line, and 17-for-25 (.680) from the charity stripe.
The Aggies finished 17-for-72 (.236) from the field, 4-for-19 (.211) from the three-point line, and 12-for-16 (.750) from beyond the arc.
Both teams were also hampered by ball handling as they combined 52 turnovers.
After a scoreless opening two and a half minutes, Bagaason got the Sioux on the board with a short jumpshot inside the arc. The Aggies tied the game with a basket off of the inbounds play, but with a three-pointer by Youngblut, UND regained the lead.
After a basket on both ends brought the score to 7-4 in favor of UND, the game fell into a scoreless three minutes. Youngblut broke the silence with a basket at 9:34 and with a pair of free throws to follow, the Sioux moved into a 12-4 lead.
A short 10-5 run by the Aggies cut the lead to 17-14, but with two points each from Youngblut and Bergan from the free throw line, the Sioux took a 21-16 advantage into the locker-room.
Back out of the break Youngblut nailed a three-pointer at 19:00 to up the Sioux lead to 24-16. The Aggies cut the lead to 24-21, but with an ensuing 10-0 run the Fighting Sioux took their biggest lead of the game, a 34-21 advantage.
Inside that run, Bagaason and Bergan each had a basket from behind the arc and Seay scored four-consecutive points off of the bench.
North Dakota maintained the double-figure lead until a 12-4 Aggie run cut the Sioux lead to 43-41 with just over four minutes left in the contest. With another quick basket NMSU tied the game at 43-43, but a physical 12-2 run by the Sioux kicked them back out to a 10-point lead with under a minute remaining.
Despite a late five points by Boyd, North Dakota picked up its first win of the 2009-10 season.
North Dakota will stick to the road game as it will travel back down to El Paso, Texas on Tuesday and they fly out to Spokane, Wash. On Wednesday, Nov. 25 the Fighting Sioux will take on Gonzaga. Gametime at McCarthey Athletic Center is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. central.
- Go Sioux -
