GRAND FORKS, N.D. ? North Dakota's Kierah Kimbrough and Mallory Youngblut finished with double-doubles as the Fighting Sioux out-played Houston Baptist to a 95-67 victory in front of a crowd of 2,675 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
Kimbrough, a forward from Greenbush, Minn., led all players with 32 points and 10 rebounds. She was 15-for-19 from the field, 2-for-2 from the line and provided three blocked shots. It was the senior's seventh double-double of the season, the 27th of her career, and marked the second 30-point finish during her four years with the Sioux.
A Davenport, Iowa native, Youngblut shot 3-for-4 from the three point-line enroute to 15 points and her second career double-double. Her 10 rebounds ? all defensive ? tied her career high. This was the second time in four games that the sophomore guard doubled-up.
Junior G Kayla Bagaason (Clearbrook, Minn.) and junior F Whitney Ledger (Bismarck, N.D.) also helped pace UND to victory. Bagaason went 4-for-6 from behind the arc and added a field goal to finish with 14 points. Off the bench, Ledger hit 4-for-8 from the field and 3-for-5 from the charity strip to come away with 11 points.
Senior G Danye Guinn (St. Francis, Minn.) put up big numbers in the compliments category. Her 12 assist finish set a new personal standard and was just three shy of the school-record 15 set by Christy Waldal in 1996.
Houston Baptist had three players carry much of the scoring load. Jamie Spriggs led the Huskies with 17 points and two blocks, Raquel Jones posted 12 points and Jelela Simpson wrapped up the double-digits with 10 points.
Rebounding was a factor as the Sioux out-boarded the Huskies 50-33 with a 36-22 advantage on the defensive end. UND also topped the Huskies 50-33 in the assist column.
“We attacked and when at them,” said head coach Gene Roebuck. “That's how we had to play. They are very athletic ... you can't play them man-to-man. We played them zone and were able to get the boards when they missed.
“On the offensive end, we handled there pressure quite well. We had some turnovers in the first half, but I think we got those down in the second half. We just kept moving North and South and that's what you have to do against this team.”
UND finished 55.7 percent (39-for-70) from the field, 60.0 percent (9-for-15) from the three-point line, and 57.1 percent (8-for-14) from beyond the arc.
With the victory, the Fighting Sioux improved to 13-11 while HBU dropped to 7-17 and suffered its four-consecutive loss.
The game stayed close for just a minute before Guinn hit a three-pointer at 19:03 to tie the game at 5-5 and start the Sioux on a winding path towards victory.
The game stayed within 2-4 points for the next four minutes before UND used a 12-4 run to take a 23-13 lead with Youngblut and Bagaason both scoring from behind the arc.
North Dakota then used a minute long, 7-0 run to take a 14-point advantage. The lead was short-lived as the Huskies used their own 7-0 run to cut the lead in half and bring the score to 30-23.
Seven was the number of the day as the Sioux scored another seven straight points to regain the 14-point lead. Highlighting the short dash was a milestone three-pointer by junior G Jossy Bergan (Valley City, N.D.); it was the 100th trey of her career.
HBU got as close as 11 points, but with a three-point basket by Youngblut at 2:05, the Fighting Sioux were up 44-28. Baskets went back-and-forth through the final minutes, but the Sioux held onto the 16-point lead.
Heading into the break, UND led the Huskies 48-32.
North Dakota continued its forward momentum in the second half. With just under four minutes off of the clock, the Sioux had already moved themselves into a 23-point lead - compliments of a pair of three-pointers by Bagaason and one from Youngblut. Kimbrough tallied the remaining four points off of passes from Guinn and Bergan.
With 13:09 on the clock, Youngblut pulled off what some may say was the most exciting play of the game. With the ball on HBU's end and time quickly falling off of the shot clock, five-foot-one Little put up a desperation three-pointer on the right wing. Youngblut, with a one-foot height advantage, jumped with arms extended and blocked Little's shot just as it left her finger tips.
The block not only fired up the crowd, but the team as well.
The excitement propelled the Sioux to a 13-4 scoring run. Guinn and Bagaason were instrumental in the run. Guinn dished off to Ledger at the start and followed with an assist to Kimbrough. Bagaason, who also assisted Kimbrough under the basket, recorded five of the 11 points scored.
With 8:25 left on the clock, UND led 82-50.
HBU chipped the UND lead down to 28 points, but a quick 6-0 run for the Sioux ? including back-to-back baskets by Ledger ? kept the Huskies at bay and gave the home team a 90-56 lead.
The 34-point advantage would prove to be the largest of the contest.
In the final five minutes of play, Houston Baptist grabbed a hold of its first and only advantage of the afternoon as it went on a 14-3 scoring run. The run was too little, too late as the Sioux once again muzzled the Huskies to victory.
North Dakota will be back on the home court on Thursday, February 19 when it takes on SIU-Edwardsville. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will follow with the men's game.
Houston Baptist, SIU-Edwardsville, and Seattle are all scheduled to take part in the 2009 UND Spring Thaw slated for March 7-8 in Grand Forks.
-Go Sioux!-
GAME NOTES: Guinn is tied at No. 4 with Amy Mahlum (2002-06) in UND's all-time games played. She is No. 22 in all-time scoring surpassing Whitney Meier (1989-91) and Theresa LeCuyer (1999-01), tied with Katie Richards (1996-00) for the No. 5 spot in all-time three-pointers and tied with Carissa Janer (2003-07) for the No. 4 spot in career assists ... Kimbrough was just five points shy of her career-high 37 tallied last season. She is now No. 3 all-time in field goals made surpassing Sheri Kleinsasser (1991-95), and No. 3 in field goals attempted surpassing Kleinsasser, and Tiffany Pudenz (1994-98). Her 15 field goals was a career high ... Youngblut played a career-high 34 minutes ... Sophomore Corey Lof (Detroit Lakes, Minn.) tied her career-high in blocks (1).
