GRAND FORKS, N.D. - North Dakota sophomore Madi Buck was on fire this afternoon as she went without a miss to lead North Dakota (2-1) to an 86-80 victory over Duquesne (2-1). In front of a Betty Engelstad Sioux Center crowd of 1,398, the Bismarck, N.D., native went 10-for-10 at the line and shot 5-for-5 from the field, including a three-pointer, to finish with a career-high 21 points. Buck was also a leader on the boards, finishing with 13 defensive rebounds to tally her second consecutive double-double.
"What an unbelievable game for Madi," head coach Gene Roebuck said. "She is so versatile. The big thing that I like about Madi is her toughness. She brings a toughness to the floor that we have lacked a bit over the last few years. When you have a player like her that can play hard-nosed basketball on both sides of the floor and maintain her composer, it brings the level of play up for the rest of the team."
Four other players hit double digits for the Sioux, who shot 57.8 percent (26-for-45) from the field, 60 percent (6-for-10) from three-point range, and 87.5 percent (28-for-32) at the line.
Junior forward Carly Rothfusz (Eden Prairie, Minn.) finished with 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and a 2-for-2 effort at the free throw line. Senior guard Charnay Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.), junior guard Nicole Smart (Ada, Minn.), and sophomore forward Megan Lauck (Shoreview, Minn.) came away with 11 points apiece.
Mothershed went 7-for-7 from the line and added a pair of field goals and Smart hit 4-for-7 from the field, including a three-pointer, and went 2-for-3 at the charity stripe. Lauck tallied all but two of her points from three-point range as she went a perfect 3-for-3 from distance.
The game may have come down to the wire in the end, but the for the most part, it was the all North Dakota show.
With a three-pointer at 14:47 in the first half, Lauck broke a 7-7 tie and sent the Sioux out on an 11-3 run to give them the 18-10 lead. With yet another run, this time an 11-4 clip, the Sioux held a 15-point advantage (8:32).
The Dukes brought the margin down to single digits inside the five-minute mark, but Lauck answered with two straight treys to give UND the 39-24 edge. Heading into the locker-room, it was North Dakota 44, Duquesne 32.
Twelve seconds in to the second half, Buck put in the first basket for the Sioux. Following a made basket by Duquesne's Wumi Agunbiade, Rothfusz posted four straight points to give UND a 16-point lead - its largest advantage of the game.
Agunbaida led the Dukes with 20 points.
The teams battled back-and-forth until the Dukes used a trio of spaced three-pointers to bring the score to 62-54 (8:56). UND bumped its lead back up to 12 points, but with yet another three-pointer, this one from Alex Gensler, Duquesne set out on a 12-3 run that would bring it within three points of the Sioux (69-66) - the closest it had been since the 12:30 mark of the opening half.
Gensler went 5-for-13 three-point range en route to a 19-point finish.
UND fired back with six straight points, but the visitors would not go away as each Sioux score was answered. In the end, the Dukes' bark proved bigger than their bite as the Sioux came away with the 86-80 victory.
"We've gained some confidence over these past few games," Roebuck said. "And the biggest thing that we did today was play 40 minutes of basketball. That right there is taking your program to the next level.
"We still have a young team, but our depth really gives us an advantage. We have a bench that can step in and keep the tempo up for us."
Led by 11 points from Lauck, UND's reserves combined for 24 points. Senior guard Charnise Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.) finished with seven, redshirt freshman center Emily Evers (Grand Forks, N.D.) scored three, sophomore center Katie Houdek (Grafton, N.D.) finished with two, and freshman guard Brianna Williams (Minneapolis, Minn.) netted one.
The Sioux out-rebounded the Dukes 37-29 and forced them to make 16 turnovers. UND shot over 50 percent from all areas while Duquesne struggle a bit from the field. The Dukes finished 27-for-68 (39.7 percent) from the field, 12-for-33 (36.4 percent) from behind the arc, and 14-for-18 (77.8 percent) at the free throw line.
North Dakota is back in action this week as it travels to Las Cruces, N.M., for the Aggie Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic hosted by New Mexico State. UND will face Southern Utah on Friday (7 p.m. CT) and New Mexico State on Saturday (5 p.m. CT).
- Go Sioux -
