What's on tap
On Friday, the Fighting Sioux women's basketball team will wrap up its regular season home schedule with a 4 p.m. match up against SeattleU.
All that will remain for the rest of the season at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center will be the 2009 Spring Thaw scheduled for March 7-8.
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, 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.
Ticket prices for the 2009 UND Spring Thaw are as follows ...
Adult (reserved) - $12
Adult (general admission) - $10
Youth (reserved) - $9
Youth (general admission) - $8
Visit www.ticketmaster.com for more information.
GAME PROMOTIONS
First 2,000 fans will receive a Fighting Sioux ice scraper.
All UND Students will enjoy free pizza between games (while supplies last).
All season long, North Dakota fans can enjoy “All You Can Eat Seats”. Prices are $18 for adults and $10 for youth. Each ticketed person receives a wristband for unlimited nachos, hot dogs, chips, and soda.
Also ongoing will be “Operation Enduring Friendship” providing free entry to all military personnel and their dependents. Each game is limited to 50 tickets.
Friday's game sponsor is Rydell Auto Center.
Last SIOUX ACTION
Sophomore Mallory Youngblut (Davenport, Iowa) registered her second straight double-double to lift the University of North Dakota women's basketball team to a 82-66 victory over SIU Edwardsville on Thursday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
Youngblut scored 21 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds as the Sioux improved to 10-0 on their home court this season. Senior Kierah Kimbrough (Greenbush, Minn.) tallied 18 points as UND had four players with 14 or more points.
Youngblut, junior Kayla Bagaason (Clearbrook, Minn.) and junior Jossy Bergan (Valley City, N.D.) combined to make 11 3-pointers in the contest. Bagaason finished with 17 points, while Bergan contributed 14 - just one shy of her career-best.
NOTING THE SIOUX
Through 25 games, North Dakota has out-scored its opponents 1894-1643 with the bulk of the points coming in the second half. In the second stanza, the Fighting Sioux are posting a 145 point advantage (991-846).
Still at the top of the stat lists are senior captains F Kierah Kimbrough (Greenbush, Minn.) and G Danye Guinn (St. Francis, Minn.).
With 18 points against SIU Edwardsville, Kimbrough notched her 21st double-digit game in a row. She is averaging 19.4 points per game and is pulling down an average of 7.3 rebounds per contest.
Guinn is posting an average of 10.2 points per game and is dishing out an average of 4.6 assists per game.
UND's top three-point shooter is sophomore G Mallory Youngblut (Davenport, Iowa). She is 38-for-89 (.427) from beyond the arc.
ALL-TIME VS. SEATTLEU
The Fighting Sioux and the Redhawks are currently tied at 1-1 in the all-time series. Exactly one month ago the two teams squared off for the first time since. 2006.
At the end of a game that totaled 12 lead changes, the North Dakota women's basketball came up just one-point short as Seattle took a 75-74 victory in front of 357 at the Connolly Center.
Seattle's top two scorers, Chelsie Morrison and Breanna Sally were credited with giving SU the last-second win. With :25 left on the clock, Sally hit from behind the arc to tie the game at 74-74. Seconds later, Morrison scored from the free throw line to give the Redhawks the lead and the win.
NOTING THE REDHAWKS
Seattle University is on an 11-game winning streak after taking a 78-69 victory over CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 21 in Seattle, Washington.
Chelsie Morrison led with 19 points and Mercedes Alexander finished with a team-high 17 rebounds.
Breanna Salley leads the Redhawks with an average of 17.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. She also brings a team-high 27 blocks and a 45.5 (163-for-358) shooting percentage.
Morrison is averaging 13.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest. She leads the team with 52 steals and a 77.8 (42-for-52) free throw shooting percentage. Alexander is the team's top rebounds with an average of 9.7 boards per game.
Cassidy Murillo is the top three-piont shooting with a 38.8 (50-for-128) shooting percentage.
The Redhawks bring with them a 8-6 road record.
SU HEAD COACH DAN KRILEY
Dan Kriley returns for his fifth season as the head women's basketball coach at Seattle University. In 2007-08, Kriley led the women's program to a 7-11 record in the GNAC and a 16-11 record overall. In addition, Kriley had three players that garnered Honorable Mention post season honors.
Kriley is clearly instilling a new attitude into the women's basketball program at Seattle University. He is teaching passion and desire with a heavy dose of work ethic and defensive intensity along the way. The result has been a rapidly improving team that has reached a level of national prominence.
In 2006-07, Kriley completed the turnaround of a struggling program to a team that finished 18-9 and narrowly missed advancing to the postseason. With his success, Kriley improved his overall record at Seattle University to 41-39.The 2006-07 team had the characteristics of a Kriley coached team, playing hard for 40 minutes, especially on the defensive end. Seattle finished 16th in the nation allowing just 35.5 percent shooting from the floor and 20th in the nation allowing just 55.9 points per game.
PROTECT AND SERVE
All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 408-74 (.846) when it comes to defending their own court and are 312-30 (.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 79-6 (.929) 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.
GO FIGURE
This season alone, the Fighting Sioux have scored 889 points at the Betty.
