LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The University of North Dakota women's basketball program posted its first on-court win over Southern Utah with a very tight 62-61 win over the Thunderbirds this evening at the Aggie Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic hosted by New Mexico State.
Junior guard Nicole Smart led the Fighting Sioux (3-1) with 12 points. The Ada, Minn., native shot 4-for-7 from the field, 2-for-3 from three point range, and went a perfect 2-for-2 at the foul line. Redshirt freshman center Emily Evers (Grand Forks, N.D.) recorded 11 points during her 17 minutes of play and sophomore forward Madi Buck (Bismarck, N.D.) snagged a team-high 10 rebounds.
Carli Moreland led the T-Birds (0-4) with 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field and a 5-for-9 showing at the free throw line. Kimie Hawkins finished with 12 points and Hailey Mandelko came away with 10. With 11 rebounds apiece, Moreland and Hawkins each recorded a double-double.
It took just over two minutes for the first bucket to drop and SUU's Marquelle Funk was the first to do so with a pair of free throws. With a jumper from Moreland to follow, the T-Birds were up 4-0 over the Sioux. However, after building an eight-point lead (12:56), SUU seemingly lost control of the half.
UND's Megan Lauck (So., G, Shoreview, Minn.) hit a jumper at 12:41, and jumpstarted a 16-0 run that would put the Sioux ahead 18-10 with 7:01 left in the half. The Thunderbirds tried to regain the lead, but the Fighting Sioux held them off to take a 25-21 lead into the locker-room.
Back out of the break, SUU made to opening basket to cut the lead down to two, but a three-pointer by Smart and a layup by senior guard Charnay Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.) pushed UND back out by seven (30-23).
An 8-0 Southern Utah run cost the Sioux the lead (SUU 31, UND 30; 14:16), but a jumper by Smart at 13:54 put the advantage right back into UND's hands.
At the 9:35 mark, SUU regained the lead, but over the course of the following three minutes, the advantage would trade hands seven times. The lead trade came to an end when Evers put in a layup to give UND the 50-49 lead. Through the next six minutes and 47 seconds, the Sioux would hold off the Thunderbirds to tally their third straight win.
Three-pointers seemed to be the kryptonite for both teams as UND went without a trey in the opening half and the Thunderbirds fell silent in the second half. Overall, UND shot 3-for-10 (30 percent) from three-point range and SUU went 2-for-18 (11.1 percent). Combined, the two team shot 5-for-28 (17.9 percent) from distance.
Overall, UND shot 35.3 percent (18-for-51) from the field and 79.3 percent (23-for-29) at the line. The Thunderbirds were 20-for-61 (32.8 percent) from the field and 70.4 percent (19-for-27) at the free throw line.
UND will wrap up the Aggie Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic tomorrow evening when they take on host New Mexico State at 5 p.m. CT.
- Go Sioux -
