MANHATTAN, Kan. - In the series opener between North Dakota and Kansas State, the Fighting Sioux fell to the Wildcats 76-49 in front of 2,696 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.
With an early lead that held through to the final whistle, including a 30-point advantage with 1:19 left to go, K-State moved to 7-1 on the season while the Sioux lost their fifth game in a row and dropped to 1-6.
"We turned the ball over quite a bit," said UND head coach Gene Roebuck. "We are a young team, so we are going to be prone to do that."
The Sioux committed 28 turnovers, which KU was able to turn in to 34 points. On the flipside, UND posted 13 points off of the Wildcat's 23 mishandlings.
"We had a few breakdowns when they got the ball to the high post and on some guard penetration our forwards and wings weren't dropping down, little things like that hurt us," said Roebuck.
Wildcat shooting guard Taelor Karr led all players with 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field and a 2-for-3 performance from beyond the three-point arc. Inside, Branshea Brown accounted for 10 of KU's 40 points in the paint.
The Wildcats finished 33-for-62 (.532) from the field and 8-for-17 (.471) at three-point range. While the home team seemed to hit from every mark, UND struggled a bit the find the inside of the net. The Sioux shot 34 percent (18-for-53) from the field and 27.8 percent (5-for-18) beyond the arc. However, UND held the advantage at the charity stripe shooting .727 (8-for-11) compared to KU's .333 (2-for-6) shooting percentage.
"The score might not indicate it, but we worked hard today and we worked hard for 40 minutes," said senior co-captain Mallory Youngblut (F, Davenport, Iowa). "We did better than we have in the past couple of weeks. Our shots weren't dropping, but we'll spend a little more time in the gym and work to fix that. We are coming around."
On the boards, Kansas State held a 39-28 rebounding advantage and was able to post 11 points on second chances. Standing at 6-4, UND's Allyssa Wall (C, North Sioux City, S.D.) was the tallest player on the court. She led all players with a career-high nine rebounds. With height at her advantage, Wall also blocked a career-high five shots - two more than all KU players combined.
"Overall, I thought were played hard on the defensive end," said Roebuck. "They are a big team, they are a physical team, they are a Big 12 team and that's a physical conference. We just aren't quite there yet."
For the seventh game in a row, the Fighting Sioux were led by a member of the freshman class. With 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and a 2-for-2 mark at the free throw line, Wall led the team for the second game in a row and the fourth game overall.
Right on her tail was senior co-captain Mallory Youngblut (F, Davenport, Iowa), who broke a three-game, double-figure drought with 12 points, including nine from three-point range.
"I thought we had a good all-around effort out of Mallory," said Roebuck. "And I saw some bright spots overall in how our attitude was as far as working hard not getting down on ourselves with a defeatist attitude. We kept working and kept going at it. I know that it can be rough, but if you fall down, you have to pick yourself up."
UND opened with a three from Youngblut at 18:39, but Kansas State quickly took control and built a 9-3 lead before the Sioux could once again find the inside of the basket. The sides traded scores until a 9-0 run by the Wildcats swelled the lead to 21-7.
Katie Houdek(RFR., F, Grafton, N.D.) ended the run with her first basket of the game, but K-State fired back with a brief 7-0 stint - capped by a put-back from Chantay Caron - to take the 28-9 advantage.
With an answer for every Sioux basket, the Wildcats went into the locker-room with a 34-16 lead.
Inside the new half, KU wasted no time as Jalana Childs and Karr pushed their team in to a 22-point lead. The Fighting Sioux kept the Wildcats in check until back-to-back baskets by Childs, including a three-point play, moved the point margin to 23.
UND continued to chip away, but each time they found themselves trailing by less than 20 points, Kansas State managed to find the open shot and continue to keep the Sioux from a late-game comeback.
"Our players need to battle and understand that this is what it is," said Roebuck. "We need to keep getting better. If we get better, we'll head into the Great West and maybe do some damage."
North Dakota will continue its December road tour next week with a pair of Midwestern games. UND will first rekindle the series with Northern Iowa - a team it has not faced since 1978 - on Saturday, Dec. 18 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Sioux will then travel to Omaha, Neb., to square off against Creighton on Monday, Dec. 20.
GAME NOTES: Tonight marks the series opener between North Dakota and Kansas State ... Since beginning the transition to NCAA Division I status in 2007, the Fighting Sioux have gone 0-3 against members of the Big 12 ... In all seven games this season, the University of North Dakota has been led by a freshman in double figures ... Since the inaugural season of the Great West Conference (2008-09), UND has gone 11-1 against league foes and 7-19 against non-conferenced opponents ... The University of North Dakota women's basketball program holds a 769-287 (.728) record all-time since the first game was played in 1974. Under head coach Gene Roebuck, UND is 593-123 (.828) ... All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 419-83 (.835) when it comes to defending their own court and are 323-39 (.892) under the tutelage of Gene Roebuck ... UND is 85-14 (.859) all-time at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, which opened prior to the 2004-05 season.
- Go Sioux -
