DES MOINES, IOWA - North Dakota's four-game winning streak came to an abrupt end as Drake handed UND a 74-60 loss this evening at the Knapp Center. Led by 21 points from Rachael Hackbarth, the Bulldogs had three players finish in double figures, and held UND to a 17.2 shooting percentage from the field and zero three-pointers in the first half.
With the loss, UND drops to 4-2 while the Bulldogs move to 2-4.
Sophomore forward Madi Buck led North Dakota with 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field and a 4-for-5 showing from three-point range. The Bismarck N.D., native added a team-high seven rebounds and tallied three assists, two blocks and a steal.
Junior guard Carly Rothfusz (Eden Prairie, Minn.) finished with 11 points on 3-for-7 shooting from the field, including a three-pointer, and a 4-for-5 finish at the free throw line.
North Dakota shot 36.1 percent (22-for-61) from the field, 33.3 percent (6-for-18) at three-point range, and 62.5 percent (10-for-16) at the free throw line.
Along with Hackbarth's points, Stephanie Running finished with 14 and Alyssa Marschner ended with 10. Marschner was 2-for-2 behind the arc to lead a trio of Bulldogs with a pair of treys.
The Bulldogs finished 28-for-65 (43.1 percent) from the field, 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) from beyond the arc, and 11-for-17 (64.7 percent) at the foul line.
DU scored 20 points off of UND's 13 turnovers and converted its 18 offensive rebounds into 13 points. UND scored 16 points in the paint, 13 off of second chances, and 12 points came from its reserves.
Drake had built a 12-1 lead before Nicole Smart (Jr., G, Ada, Minn.) hit the first field goal for UND at the 13:20 mark. The Bulldogs quickly responded with another big run, this time a 13-2 clip to lead 25-5 with 7:36 remaining in the half. Outside of the media timeout, sophomore forward Katie Houdek (Grafton, N.D.) and Rothfusz combined for three points, but they were quickly cancelled as Marschner hit from three-point range for the Bulldogs.
Amber Wollschlager ended a UND-Drake point-trade at 3:21 with Drake's third three-pointer in the half. With another basket from each side, UND went into the locker-room trailing Drake 16-39.
Buck drained a three-pointer to start the second half (19:29), but the Bulldogs responded with four points of their own. Following nearly two minutes without a basket on either end, sophomore center Allyssa Wall (North Sioux City, S.D.) was fouled as she made a quick jumper. After completing the three-point play, Smart hit a three-pointer off of a pass from Rothfusz to cut the lead down to 18 (43-25) with 16:34 on the clock.
The teams traded baskets through the next four minutes until two consecutive three-pointers by Drake gave the Bulldogs a 29-point lead (59-30), its largest of the game. Buck responded with a pair of long-range shots of her own and set off a 12-2 UND run to cut the score down to 61-42 with 5:47 remaining. UND cut the margin down to 14 points just outside the two-minute mark, but with the first half deficit proving too much to overcome, UND tallied its fourth straight loss to the Bulldogs and its first loss on the road.
North Dakota will return home this weekend as it faces its first Big Sky opponent of the season. UND and the Montana State Bobcats will tip-off at 2 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, Dec. 4 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
- Go Sioux -
