LAS CRUCES, N.M. - With a combined 23 points from twin senior guards Charnay Mothershed and Charnise Mothershed, the University of North Dakota women's basketball team downed host New Mexico State 63-46 in the second game of the Aggie Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic.
North Dakota (4-1) has now won three straight games, while New Mexico State (1-4) has lost the last four. NMSU and Southern Utah will play in the tournament finale tomorrow starting at 1 p.m. CT.
The Phoenix, Ariz., natives led a trio of Fighting Sioux players who finished in double figures. Charnay went 4-for-5 from the field and 5-for-6 at the free throw line to lead the team with 13 points, and Charnise finished 5-for-8 from the field to score 10.
This marks just the second time that both Mothersheds have finished a game in double digits. The last time it happened was during UND's 90-72 win over Western Kentucky on Jan. 10, 2011. On that date, Charnay posted a career-high 18 points and Charnise finished with a personal-best 17.
Rounding out the high-scoring trio for UND was redshirt freshman center Emily Evers (Grand Forks, N.D.), who shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the field to finish with 10 points.
Sophomore forward Madi Buck (Bismarck, N.D.) led the Sioux on the boards with 11 rebounds (all defensive), marking her fourth straight game with double-figure boards.
With 34 defensive rebounds, UND out-boarded NMSU 43-26. The Sioux also held a 73.7 percent (14-for-19) - 63 percent (17-for-27) shooting advantage at the free throw line and out-shot the Aggies 50 percent (24-for-48) - 25 percent (12-for-48) from the field. When it came to three-point shooting, the home team came out on top as NMSU out-shot UND 50 percent (5-for-10) - 8.3 percent (1-for-12). North Dakota's lone three-pointer came from junior guard Carly Rothfusz (Eden Prairie, Minn.), who dropped one in at 6:36 in the first half.
New Mexico State was led in scoring by Hannah Womack (13) and Tabytha Wampler (11).
UND's Nicole Smart (Jr., G, Ada, Minn.) hit the first basket just 23 seconds in, but Wampler answered with a three-pointer on the other end to take over the lead. The Sioux countered with a 6-1 run to take a four-point lead, but with another Aggie three-pointer, this time from Womack, UND's lead was quickly cut down to a single point.
Following a pair of free throws from Rothfusz, New Mexico State scored four straight points to take an 11-10 advantage. Within seconds, however, UND regained the lead and then set out on an 11-2 run to hold a 21-13 advantage with six and a half minutes remaining in the half. Evers jumpstarted the run with four straight points, and Rothfusz capped it with a long distance basket.
The Sioux ended the half on a 6-1 run to take a 29-19 lead into the locker-room.
With a fresh 20 on the clock, the Aggies came out strong, scoring the first six points of the new half to cut the margin down to four. Once again, UND had an answer, this time it was an 8-0 run. Smart scored the first two from the line, Charnay followed with a transition layup, and Charnise dropped in the final four on a pair of jumpers.
Trailing 37-25 with 14:28 remaining, the Aggies dropped in a pair of free throws to make it a 10-point game, but that was the closest they would come for the remainder of the game as the Sioux continued to put together short and successful runs.
An 11-3 run put the Sioux up 48-30 with 8:19 on the clock. Then, just under three minutes later, freshman guard Brianna Williams (Minneapolis, Minn.) dropped in a pair from the foul line to give UND a 57-37 advantage and its first 20-point lead of the game.
New Mexico State continued to fight, but it couldn't put together a run strong enough to overturn the double-digit deficit.
Next week, North Dakota will travel to Iowa to take on Drake. Tipoff between the Fighting Sioux and the Bulldogs is slated for 7 p.m. CT at the Knapp Center.
- Go Sioux -
