UP NEXT FOR NORTH DAKOTA
After recording a 70-60 win over fourth-ranked South Dakota in the semifinals, top-seeded North Dakota (17-13, 11-1 GWC) will take on the sixth seed, Utah Valley (9-22, 3-9 GWC), in the inaugural 2009-10 Great West Conference Women's Basketball Tournament championship game. The Fighting Sioux and the Wolverines will tip-off at 5 p.m. (central) at the McKay Center in Orem, Utah.
MEDIA INFORMATION
Saturday's Great West Conference championship game against Utah Valley will be broadcast on 100.3 FM (CatCountry) with Paul Ralston handling the play-by-play.
All Fighting Sioux women's basketball games - home and away - can be heard on CatCountry 100.3 FM and on stations across the Fighting Sioux radio network.
Stay tuned for any schedule changes.
Click here for links to live stats, a live radio audiocast, live chat, and streaming video for today's championship game.
NOTING THE FIGHTING SIOUX
The University of North Dakota extended its winning-streak to 11 games and advanced to the championship game of the 2009-10 Great West Conference Tournament with a hard-nosed 70-60 win over South Dakota in Friday's semifinal round. Four Sioux players finished in double-figures. UND has now had at least one player with a double-double in the past four games.
The only player to play the full 40 minutes, senior Jossy Bergan led the Sioux in scoring with 18 points. The Valley City, N.D., native banked nine points from beyond the arc and was 5-for-5 from the free throw line. With 11 points, Bergan was the only player in double-figures heading into the halftime break.
Bergan is averaging 9.8 ppg (10.8 ppg GWC) and leads the team with 102 assists. She is shooting .353 from the field and .335 at three-point range.
Senior Kayla Bagaason finished with 17 points for her 14th straight game in double-digits. Recently named the Great West Conference Player of the Year, the Clearbrook, Minn., native leads the Sioux scoring (14.4 ppg (16.6 ppg GWC) and is shooting a team-best .820 from the free throw line and .820 beyond the three-point arc.
Junior Mallory Youngblut, a native of Davenport, Iowa, has now finished in double-figures in the last five games. With the addition her 15 point, 10 rebound (six defensive) finish, she has doubled-up four times this season, three times in the last four games.
Youngblut is second on the team averaging 12.9 ppg (15.8 ppg GWC). She is shooting .413 from the field and .376 beyond the arc. Youngblut leads the team with an average of 7.4 rpg (8.6 rpg GWC), 25 blocks, and 63 steals.
A native of Bismarck, N.D., senior Whitney Ledger finished with 13 points for her sixth-straight game in double-figures. She had an impressive performance on the boards nabbing a total of nine rebounds, six on the offensive. On several occasions, Ledger pulled down the offensive board and then put the ball back up for the score.
She is averaging 11.2 ppg (12.5 ppg GWC) and 6.9 rpg, 7.5 rpg GWC). Ledger is shooting a team-high .498 from the field.
Recipient of this year's Sixth Woman Award, Alys Seay (G, Grand Forks, N.D.) has seen time in each game this season for the Sioux. She is averaging 18.4 minutes per game and is shooting .407 from the field and .537 at the free throw line.
Freshman Nicole Smart (G, Ada, Minn.) has seen time in every game this season for the Sioux, including her first career-start at Houston Baptist (Jan. 30). She is averaging 2.8 ppg (2.6 GWC). In the semifinal game, Smart finished with five points on 2-for-4 shooting from the field and 1-for-2 shooting at three-point range.
Against HBU, freshman Carly Rothfusz (G, Eden Prairie, Minn.) tallied her first field goals since the Jan. 4, 2010 game at Eastern Michigan. She followed with two more points in the regular-season finale against Texas-Pan American (March 6).
The Fighting Sioux set a new season-high with 14 three-pointers against UTPA (March 6) in the regular-season finale. While on the winning-streak, they have netted at least six treys in each game.
North Dakota currently boasts the longest winning-streak in the conference and is the only team above the .500 mark.
SERIES HISTORY ... UVU
North Dakota leads the all-time series with Utah Valley 2-0 (1-0 home, 1-0 away). The first win came on Jan. 14 in Orem, Utah. On that day, all five starters finished in double-figures to help make UND history as the Fighting Sioux captured their first official Great West Conference win with an 84-71 victory over UVU at the McKay Center.
UND picked up its first home win over the Wolverines on Feb. 20. Along with the 68-57 victory, Kayla Bagaason (G, Clearbrook, Minn.) scored 22 points enroute to becoming the 28th member of UND's 1,000 Point Club.
NOTING THE WOLVERINES
The Utah Valley women scored an upset for the second straight day as they erased a 10-point halftime lead to top No. 2-seeded Texas-Pan American on Friday at the Great West Conference Tournament in the UVU Events Center.
It was a tale of two halves as UVU scored 51 points and shot a blistering 68.2 percent in the second half after shooting 33.3 percent and turning the ball over 17 times in the opening 20 minutes. The Wolverines had just six turnovers after the break and wound up shooting 50 percent (23-for-46) overall.
Utah Valley held the Lady Broncs (13-17) scoreless for over five minutes in the second half, turning a six-point deficit into a 59-49 lead with 4:34 to go. The Wolverines scored 14 straight points and had a 30-8 run overall after facing a 12-point deficit five minutes into the second half.
The Wolverines were led in scoring by 20 points from Julie Smith on 5-for-8 shooting while Kaycee Mansfield finished with 11 points and a team season-high 14 rebounds. Three other players also reached double figures with Asumi Nakayama and Erika Newbold both adding 11 and Jenna Johnson finished with 10.
Smith leads the Wolverine scoring with 16.8 ppg. She is shooting .416 from the field and .753 at the free throw line. Smith leads the team with 20 blocked shots.
Johnson is shooting .378 at three point range and is second on the team averaging 11.7 ppg.
Lead rebounder for UVU, Newbold is pulling down an average of 6.1 boards per game.
Nakayama leads the team in both assists (172) and steals (63). She is shooting .306 from the field and .782 at the free throw line.
UTAH VALLEY HEAD COACH CATHY NIXON
Cathy Nixon is entering her 15th year as the head coach of Utah Valley women's basketball in 2009-10. During her tenure, Nixon's teams have consistently displayed hard work and character, on and off the court. Nixon spent the past six seasons of her coaching career ushering Utah Valley into NCAA Division I Athletics.
Last year, Nixon led the team to its best record, 17-10, at the NCAA level and to the Division I Independent Championship after three straight tournament wins to end the year.
The 2008-09 season was also the third consecutive that Robyn Fairbanks earn All-America status. As a senior, Fairbanks became just the 20th player in NCAA history to surpass 2,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career.
Nixon has been at the helm for many landmark milestones at Utah Valley, as the school enjoys its new status as a university and also its first NCAA Division I conference as a member of the Great West Conference.
- Go Sioux -
