EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Senior Kierah Kimbrough tallied her fifteenth 20-point game of the season to lead the North Dakota women's basketball team to a 69-52 victory over SIU Edwardsville on Sunday afternoon at the Vadalabene Center in front of a crowd of 518 fans. 

With the win, the Sioux closed out their regular season with a 16-11 record and four-straight wins. SIUE dropped to 5-23.

Kimbrough, a Greenbush, Minn. native, finished with 29 points and nine rebounds to notch her 23rd consecutive double-figure finish. She has now collected 20-plus points 35 times in her career.

“Kimbrough had a fantastic game,” said head coach Gene Roebuck. “She doesn't care if somebody is going to knock her down or if she is going to knock them down ? first thing she wants to do is score. I wish everybody was like that.

“Some players when they go to the basket they look first for the contact first, but Kierah looks to the basket.”

Also on the UND high-scoring blocks were junior Kayla Bagaason (G, Clearbrook, Minn.) and sophomore Mallory Youngblut (G, Davenport, Iowa).

Bagaason dropped in 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting, including a pair of baskets to beat the shot clock. She added seven rebounds and two steals.

Youngblut shot 5-for-13 from the field and 2-for-4 from the three-point line to give UND 13 points. She scored the first basket for the Sioux in both the first and second half and was credited with four steals and three assists.

Five-foot-three junior Jossy Bergan (G, Valley City, N.D.) brought down a career-high eight rebounds and tallied a personal-best seven steals.

The Fighting Sioux out-shot the Cougars in all areas including a 45.8 (28-for-61) percent to 30.2 (19-for-63) advantage from the field. They also held a slight 15-22 advantage in the turnover category where they capitalized with 20 points on SIUE lost possessions.

“I thought we played well coming off of a game on Friday and having to travel right away on Saturday.

“This is a fun team. They have improved all year long and they have great attitudes. We are at a point where they are going to play very, very hard. It doesn't matter if you pick five players and put them on the court for 40 minutes, they are going to lay it all on the floor. I'm proud of them.”

Off the bench, Melia Duncan led the SIUE scoring with 16 points and 10 rebounds to record the only double-double of the afternoon. She was 6-for-11 from the field and hit 2-of-2 at the bonus line.

Another reserve, Sydney Winslow, was the other high scorer for the Cougars. She finished with 13 points.

From the get-go, it was evident that the Sioux came to play and they came to play hard. Kimbough, at center court for UND, was uncontested as she jumped for the tip-off and handed her teammates initial possession of the game.

“I thought we really came out and played hard right away,” said Roebuck. “In this game we needed to have a cushion. We did separate ourselves and played a very hard game on both ends of the floor. It was a game where you really had to protect the basketball.”

The Fighting Sioux jumped out to an early 11-2 lead in the first three minutes. The initial burst was kicked off by a three-pointer by Youngblut at 19:46 to mark the second-consecutive game where the Sioux have started the scoring drive from behind the arc.

The Cougars used the next three minutes to cut the lead down to five and hold UND to just one field goal. Ashley Bey closed out the short 6-2 spurt with back-to-back jumpers, including one which resulted off of a mid-court steal.

With yet another 6-2 SIUE run, the score shifted to 15-12 in favor of the Sioux.

The sides traded baskets until UND took control and moved into its first double-digit lead of the afternoon ? a 29-18 advantage. The 11-point lead was attained as Bagaason drained a three-pointer from the top just as the shot clock called for time.

Through the final three minutes of the half, SIUE was held scoreless but the Sioux remained on the scoring path. Kimbrough hit two jumpers in a row and junior Alys Seay (G, Grand Forks, N.D.) dropped in the final two points of the half off on a feed from Guinn to break the full court press. 

UND heading into the locker-room with a 35-18 lead.

As she did in the first stanza, Youngblut sparked the Sioux scoring with a basket just 34 seconds into the new 20 minutes. She followed with a three-pointer to move UND into a 22-point lead.

The UND lead jumped to 23-points twice before Meade netted SIUE's first three-point basket of the game at 15:39 to bring the scored to 47-27.

Back-and-forth was the ballgame again with the Sioux able to work their way into a 26-point lead. The Cougars managed to cut the lead down to 16-points at 7:03 following two three-pointers by Duncan and a pair of free throws from Winslow.

The Green and White held tight to the lead and never relinquished the double-figure advantage. SIUE managed to pull the score down to 62-47, but with a final two-point scoring advantage, the Sioux came away with the 69-52 over the SIUE Cougars on Senior Day.

- GoSioux -

Notes: Kimbrough is now tied with Jenny Crouse (1995-99) and Kami Winger (1995-99) at No. 7 in all-time games played at UND and is now listed No. 5 in rebounds af1976-80) after surpassing Pam Solseth (1976-80) ... Notable in attendance, former Sioux hockey player T.J. Oshie.