GRAND FORKS, N.D. - It was a shaky start in the opening minutes for both teams, but with a trio of big runs, two in the second half, the University of North Dakota women's basketball team completed the sweep over NJIT with a 58-37 Great West Conference victory at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
In the opening half, UND (12-13, 7-2 GWC) and NJIT (7-18, 3-7 GWC) shot a combined 13-for-57 (22.8 percent) from the field. But with a bit of an edge at the free throw line and a 10-0 run close the half, the Sioux went into the break leading the Highlanders 23-17.
UND hit the first four points of the second half to increase the run to 14-0 and move into a 27-17 lead. The Sioux added runs of 12-0 and 11-0 late in the game to pick up its second straight league win and tie South Dakota for second place in the conference standings.
"I think we played hard on both ends of the floor," UND head coach Gene Roebuck said. "A lot of this game is played above the shoulders, mentally. I think we were mentally exhausted from being in the hotel for three days in Utah. We then had to fly to Albuquerque from Salt Lake City, fly to Minneapolis, and then bus five hours back to Grand Forks. It took its toll on us."
The Fighting Sioux were led by a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double by senior forward Mallory Youngblut. The Davenport, Iowa, native went 6-for-14 from the field, including three three-pointers to finish with her 12th career double-double. Her finish was enough to surpass Mandy Arndtson, who tallied 1,204 career points from 1997-01. Youngblut currently ranks 18th all-time at UND with 1,208 career points.
"It got to be a pretty physical game," said Youngblut, who had to miss a few minutes of the first half in order to take care of an injury.
At 7:10, she took an elbow to the head and had to be taken back to the training to be stitched up. She emerged over four minutes later and then hit four of UND's next six points. Two came at the free throw line and the other two were scored on a high-flying tip-in.
Fellow senior Corey Lof (Detroit Lakes, Minn.) led the Sioux at the line with a career-high seven free throws. She finished the game with nine points, seven rebounds and four assists.
"We needed every point Mallory made and Corey got some hustle points too," Roebuck said. "This is senior weekend. I talked to the team after the game about taking a character check because this is an emotional weekend everyone that has gone through our program and finished their career on the basketball court. I need our underclassman to not underestimate the impact of this weekend, because their time is coming. I'm sure Mallory and Corey never want to take that uniform off, but they have to. That's part of college."
Off the bench, freshman forward Madi Buck tallied eight points, eight rebounds, and three steals. Buck's rebound total was the most tallied by the Bismarck, N.D., native at home this season. Sophomore guard Nicole Smart (Ada, Minn.) added six points, all from the free throw line where she went a perfect 6-for-6.
"Our bench came in and did a nice job," said Roebuck. "Madi is a hustle player. She gets out there, mixes it up, and plays hard. I was happy to have her come off of the bench. And then Smart gave us some good minutes today with hustle and hard work. I know her shots didn't always fall, but her floor game was very good."
The Sioux shot 28.6 percent (16-for-56) from the line, 19 percent (4-for-21) beyond the arc, and 68.8 percent (22-for-32) at the free throw line. While the offense seemed to be a bit cool at times, the defense never seemed to slow down. UND forced the Highlanders to commit 24 turnovers and then converted the mishandlings into 18 points.
NJIT finished with two players in double figures. Rayven Johnson led the way with a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double and Jessica Gerald finished with 14 points, the most since coming back from injury just one week ago. Ivana Seric was held to just two points, but managed to bring down 10 rebounds.
The Highlanders shot 26 percent (13-for-50) from the field, 25 percent (6-for-14) behind the arc, and 41.7 percent (5-for-12) at the free throw line. In the final eight minutes, NJIT was just 3-for-11 from the field. Two of those field goals came in the final 33 seconds of the game.
For nearly two minutes, neither team could find the inside of the net. NJIT's Gerald hit a three-pointer at 18:06 to break the silence and then the Highlanders quickly moved into a 5-0 lead. UND answered with a 7-0 run to nab the two-point advantage, but Gerald sank another from behind the arc to put the Highlanders back on top.
Both teams then went cold shooting a combined 0-9 through the ensuing three and a half minutes. This time, UND broke the silence as sophomore guard Carly Rothfusz (Eden Prairie, Minn.) swished a three-pointer at 7:43 to give the Sioux the 10-8 lead.
The teams battled back-and-forth until a brief 9-3 spurt by the Highlanders gave them a 17-13 lead with 3:36 remaining in the half.
But the Fighting Sioux came back with an answer, a big answer.
In the final three and a half minutes, the Sioux shut out NJIT with a 10-0 run to lead 23-17 at the half. UND carried the momentum over to the second stanza as freshman center Allyssa Wall (North Sioux City, S.D.) hit the first four points to extend the run to 14-0 with swell the lead out to 27-17.
NJIT fired back with six straight points and then stayed within close-range of the Sioux for the next three and a half minutes, that is until UND hit its first big run of the half.
Kicked off by a jumper from Buck at 13:57, UND used the next three minutes to run the score up to 42-27. Inside the 12-0 run, Youngblut scored five points, Buck had four points, and Lof picked up the final three.
NJIT tried its best to retaliate, but the Sioux continued to fend the Highlanders off. Closing in on the final five minutes of the game, UND hit a 10-0 run to take a 26-point lead, it's largest of the contest.
Trailing 58-32, NJIT scored five points in the closing 33 seconds, but the damage had already been done.
The Fighting Sioux will wrap up the home season on Monday when they host league-leading Chicago State on Senior Day. The Sioux and the Cougars will tip off at 6 p.m. at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. UND will then head to Texas for the final two regular season games before the Great West Conference Tournament in Orem, Utah, March 9-12.
GAME NOTES: With 19 points today, Mallory Youngblut moved into the No. 18 spot on UND's all-time scoring list with 1,208 career points. She is just one point away from tying Nadine VanDeKerckhove for the No. 17 spot. VanDeKerckhove tallied 1,209 career points from 1987-91) ... With 287 points on the season, Allyssa Wall ranks eighth on UND's all-time freshman scoring list ... Madi Buck's eight rebounds were the most she's brought down this season at home ... North Dakota leads the all-time series over NJIT 4-0. UND leads 2-0 in Grand Forks and 2-0 in Newark ... Since the inaugural season of the Great West Conference (2008-09), UND has gone 18-3 against league foes and 29-36 against non-conference opponents ... The University of North Dakota women's basketball program holds a 780-294 record all-time since the first game was played in 1974. Under head coach Gene Roebuck, UND is 604-130 ... All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 427-83 (.836) when it comes to defending their own court and are 332-39 (.893) under the tutelage of Gene Roebuck ... UND is 92-14 (.861) all-time at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, which opened prior to the 2004-05 season.
- Go Sioux -
