GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Led by 32 points from Kim Mestdagh, Colorado State captured a 68-61 victory over the University of North Dakota in front of a Betty Engelstad Sioux Center crowd of 68-61.
"Mestdagh buried some really long shots," said head coach Gene Roebuck. "If she is hitting 22-footers, you guard her from 22 feet. If she's hitting 23-footers, then you guard her from 23 feet and we didn't do that. We were a little lazy on getting out there."
The Rams (2-1) jumped out to an early lead and held it for much of the game until the Sioux (1-2) rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 21-21 on a layup by senior Mallory Youngblut (F, Davenport, Iowa) with 18:46 on the clock.
"I don't think we were focused in the first half," said Roebuck. "Mentally we were not focused and we weren't able to outwork them. They came out and outworked us. In the second half, we came out and played like we're capable of as far as getting up and down the floor, playing hard, and going at them.
"We came back nice. I give our team a lot of credit for that."
The score would fall to a tie three more times over the course of five minutes until a layup by Megan Lauck (Fr., Arden Hills, Minn.) at 13:50 gave UND a 30-29 lead - its first of the game. The teams battled back-and-forth, but Mestdagh's hot three-point shooting kept the Sioux from leading by more than one point.
CSU shot .423 from the field - .500 in the second half - and .882 from the free throw line. Mestdagh was responsible for eight of the Rams' nine total three-pointers. The Fighting Sioux were 21-for-54 (.389) from the field, 4-for-15 (.267) from three-point range, and 15-for-23 (.652) from the free throw line.
Led by freshman Allyssa Wall (C, North Sioux City, S.D.), UND finished with a trio of players in double figures. Wall ended with a career-best 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field and a 6-for-7 performance at the free throw line. Youngblut finished with 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Lauck garnered 11 points.
Mestdagh was 11-for-17 from the field, 8-for-14 from beyond the arc, and 2-for-2 at the free throw line for a career-high 32 points. She scored 24 of her points in the final half thanks to a 6-for-8 performance at three-point range. Also in double figures for the Rams was Meixandra Porter with 12 points.
The Fighting Sioux are back in action Tuesday evening as they welcome Gonzaga to the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center for the first time in program history. The Sioux and the Bulldogs are set to tipoff at 6 p.m.
GAME NOTES: Today's game marked the first meeting between North Dakota and Colorado State in UND women's basketball history ... Mallory Youngblut has now registered nine consecutive games in double figures ... UND holds a 769-283 (.731) record all-time since the first game was played in 1974 ... All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 419-81 (.838) when playing at home ... When playing on November 21, North Dakota is 5-3 overall, 4-2 at home, and 1-1 on neutral ground ... UND is 85-12 (.876) all-time in the friendly confines of the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center ... The Jan. 10 game against Western Kentucky will mark the 100th game played in 'The Betty' ... North Dakota will open the 2010-11 Great West Conference season on Jan. 15 when it hosts South Dakota.
- Go Sioux -
