CHICAGO, Ill. - The University of North Dakota picked up its seventh-consecutive win overall and sixth in the Great West Conference with an important 70-66 win over Chicago State at the Jones Convocation Center. Four Fighting Sioux finished in double-figures to improve their record to 13-13, 9-1 GWC. The loss was the fourth-straight for the Cougars who fell to 10-18, 5-5 GWC.
North Dakota held a double-digit lead through the majority of the game, but a CSU surge midway through the second half brought the Cougars within two points of the Sioux for the first time since the opening minute and a half of the game. With 4-for-11 shooting and six turnovers in the final seven minutes, Chicago State was unable to overtake UND.
"We played Tuesday and they didn't, but I really think our players sucked it up," head coach Gene Roebuck said. "We played really hard down the stretch and hung on for the win.
"When they made that little run at the end, we could have pulled it, but came back and held onto our lead."
Junior Mallory Youngblut led the Sioux with her 33rd career game in double-digits. The Davenport, Iowa native finished with 18 points nine rebounds, and five steals. Senior Whitney Ledger (F, Bismarck, N.D.) finished with 15 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field and a 7-for-8 performance at the free throw line. Ledger added seven rebounds and three assists.
"Whitney was tough and played really hard tonight," Roebuck said. "She went to the basket and got to the free throw line."
Senior Jossy Bergan (G, Valley City, N.D.) shot 4-for-6 from the field, 2-for-2 from three-point range, and 3-for-6 at the charity stripe for 13 points and senior Kayla Bagaason (G, Clearbrook, Minn.) finished with 10 points.
"They were really guarding Kayla hard and were blocking the passing lanes," Roebuck said. "We weren't as patient as we should have been and maybe panicked a little bit."
Bergan led the Sioux with five assists.
UND shot over 50 percent from three-point range for the second-consecutive game and was over .700 at the free throw line for the fourth-straight time.
The Cougars were led by Alyssa Waldon, who finished with 16 points. Natalie Marlowe scored 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 showing beyond the arc. She added a team-high seven rebounds. Courtney Waldon finished with 13 points.
Turnovers were a major factor as the teams combined for 43 overall, 23 in the opening 20 minutes.
"A win is a win," Roebuck said. "I'm not going to say that we had this and we had that. We got the win and I'll take the win any day on the road."
North Dakota will close its Great West road schedule with a Feb. 27 game at NJIT. With both the Fighting Sioux and the Highlanders picking up league wins on Thursday, they remain as the top two teams in the GWC. UND is No. 1 with a record of 8-1 and NJIT is No. 2 with a record of 6-2. Tip-off on Saturday is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center in Newark, N.J.
Chicago State scored the first bucket of the game, but North Dakota answered and quickly took control. The Fighting Sioux took their first double-figure lead, a 17-6 advantage, with a three-pointer by Bagaason at 9:11.
With three and a half minutes left, Youngblut hit the third-straight trey for the Sioux to give them a 14-point lead - the biggest margin of the game thus far. Bagaason and Bergan hit the other two for UND.
Tressa Beckel netted a pair of free throws with 18 seconds on the clock to cut the margin down to single digits for the first time in the final five minutes. Her two scores sent the game into the half with UND leading 36-27.
On the other side of the horn, North Dakota came out strong, out-scoring the Cougars 7-2 in the first minute and 45 seconds of the new stanza.
At 15:43, Youngblut took pass from senior Alys Seay (G, Grand Forks, N.D.) and netted her first three-pointer of the game to give UND the 52-36 lead. The Sioux remained in control of the game until a six-minute, 19-5 Cougar run cut the margin down to just two points for the first time since the opening minute and a half of the game.
Trailing 57-59 with 7:27 remaining in the game, six turnover and 4-for-11 shooting kept CSU from surpassing the Sioux, who were sent to the free throw line eight times in the final minute and a half.
GAME NOTES: Kayla Bagaason is now the 28th member of UND's 1,000 Point Club. With 1,033 career points, Bagaason moved into the No. 27 spot on UND's all-time scoring list. She surpassed Laurie Bakke who tallied 1,031 from 1978-82. Bagaason is tied with Jamie Pudenz at No. 8 in single-season three-pointers made (68) and is ranked seventh in career three-pointers made (172) ... Jossy Bergan is ranked seventh in career three-pointers attempted (483) and is No. 8 on UND's career three-pointers made (167) ... This marks the second time North Dakota and Chicago State have met on the hardwood. UND leads the series 2-0 ... North Dakota now holds an NCAA Division I transition record of 31-24 and a 8-1 record in the Great West Conference ... Since the start of the transition, the Sioux are 9-1 in the month of February and 4-1 when playing on a Saturday ... The Fighting Sioux are 764-281 all-time and 588-117 under head coach Gene Roebuck.
- Go Sioux -
