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OREM, Utah - With a trip to the championship game on the line, the Fighting Sioux bench combined for 50 points, including three players in double figures, to allow No. 3 North Dakota (15-15) to double-up seventh-seed Houston Baptist (4-25) for an 82-41 victory in the semifinal round of the 2011 Great West Conference Tournament sponsored by Pepsi.
This marks the second straight season that UND has made a trip to the GWC finals. Last year the Sioux were upset by tournament host Utah Valley, 70-62. This year's opponent will be decided in the afternoon's second semifinal game between No. 1 Chicago State (20-9) and No. 4 Utah Valley (8-20).
It was evident early on that North Dakota was in control. A pair of free throws 57 seconds into the game gave UND the marginal two-point lead, but that lead soon hovered near the double figure mark. After holding the Huskies at arm's length, the Sioux opened the floodgates at 6:57 and set out on a 17-3 run to lead 37-17 at the half.
With momentum still on their side, the Fighting Sioux came out of the break strong to swell the lead to 52-20 (13:52) and extend the run to 32-6.
"I thought our passing was decent to start the second half," UND head coach Gene Roebuck said. "When you take a big lead, you tend to get a bit sloppy. We did get sloppy at times, but we did a good job of keeping it under control."
With room to breathe, UND took out the starters and allowed the bench to gain some experience.
"It was nice to have the ability to give everyone a little bit of rest," Roebuck said. "Mallory [Youngblut] is used to playing 35 minutes a game, so it was nice to see her get some time off.
Through the final four minutes, UND's bench out-scored HBU 15-3 to keep the Huskies at bay and hold on for the big UND win.
"We have a lot of freshmen and with them it's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. It worked out very well for us today."
Sophomore guard Carly Rothfusz led the bench with 12 points in just 14 minutes on the floor. A native of Eden Prairie, Minn., she swished a career-high five field goals, including a pair from three-point range.
"I'm really proud of Carly," Roebuck said. "The only thing she needs is to get stronger. Her lapses don't come on the offensive end, but on the defensive end. If she has a good year of lifting weights and gets a bit stronger, she has an opportunity to come in next year as a starter. She is an intelligent player. It just comes down to strength right now."
In her 24 minutes of work, freshman forward Madi Buck tallied 11 points, four rebounds and three steals. The Bismarck, N.D., native finished 3-for-5 from the field, 2-for-3 behind the arc and a perfect 3-for-3 at the free throw line. Buck was key in jumpstarting UND's big first half run hitting back-to-back three-pointers to give the Sioux their first double figure advantage. It marked the third time the season that Buck has drained a pair from behind the arc.
"Madi's three-pointers in the first half were huge for us," Roebuck said. "We were struggling a bit, but she came in, dropped those threes and got us up by 14. After that, we relaxed a bit and then took off."
Also finishing with 11 points off of the bench was sophomore guard Nicole Smart. A native of Ada, Minn., Smart hit 3-for-4 from the field, including a three-pointer, and was an unblemished 4-for-4 at the free throw line. She added three assists and a pair of steals.
With the addition of eight points from redshirt freshman Katie Houdek (Grafton, N.D.), a career-high seven from redshirt freshman guard Kylie Vatthauer (Red Lake Falls, Minn.) and two from junior guard Charnise Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.), the UND bench out-scored the Huskies' bench 51-9.
"We got everyone some minutes," Roebuck said. "Kylie got in there, didn't miss a shot and got a couple of boards. It was nice to see her in there."
Freshman center Allyssa Wall (North Sioux City, S.D.) led the North Dakota starters with 12 points, nine rebounds (six defensive) and four blocked shots.
Senior forward Mallory Youngblut (Davenport, Iowa) finished with seven points and freshman forward Megan Lauck (Arden Hills, Minn.) finished with five points, nine rebounds (seven defensive) and a team- and career-high six assists.
With four points from senior forward Corey Lof (Detroit Lakes, Minn.) and three from junior guard Charnay Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.), all 11 UND players helped pave the way to the finals.
UND shot 46.8 percent (29-for-62) from the field, 50 percent (8-for-16) from three-point range and 88.9 percent (16-for-18) at the free throw line. The Sioux converted HBU's 22 turnovers into 25 points and out-rebounded the Huskies 46-32.
Houston Baptist, who earned a trip to the semifinals after upsetting No. 2 South Dakota, 73-64, in the quarterfinals, was led by Tia Jackson and Megan Green, each with eight points. Destini Texada registered 11 rebounds to lead all players.
"First of all, we didn't want to let them beat us to the basket like they did against South Dakota," Roebuck said. "They have good athletes that can set you up and take you to the basket. When that happens, it gets their offense going."
UND held the Huskies to 24.6 percent shooting from the field and a 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) effort from three-point range. Houston Baptist's leading scorer, Texada, was held to just four points and no HBU player finished in double figures.
"We did a nice job tonight of keeping them away from the basket and making them shoot the outside shots," Roebuck said.
The 2011 Great West Conference Tournament championship take place on Friday, March 12 at 5 p.m. (central) at the UCCU Center in Orem, Utah.
GAME NOTES: Carly Rothfusz hit a career-high five field goals and tallied her fourth career double figure game ... Nicole Smart finished with her sixth career double figure game ... Kylie Vatthauer scored a career-high seven points ... Madi Buck made a career-high two three-pointers and tied her personal-best three steals ... Megan Lauck finished with her 14th career double figure game ... Allyssa Wall recorded her 15th career double digit game ... With 334 points on the season, Allyssa Wall ranks eighth on UND's all-time freshman scoring list. She is just three points away from surpassing Kierah Kimbrough, who recorded 336 points during the 2005-06 season ... Mallory Youngblut is ranked 15th all-time on UND's all-time scoring list with 1,291 career points ... North Dakota leads the all-time series against Houston Baptist 6-0. UND leads 4-0 in Grand Forks, 3-0 in Houston and 1-0 on neutral ground ... Since the inaugural season of the Great West Conference (2008-09), UND has gone 20-5 against league foes and 30-36 against non-conference opponents ... The University of North Dakota women's basketball program holds a 783-296 record all-time since the first game was played in 1974. Under head coach Gene Roebuck, UND is 607-132 ... All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 427-84 (.836) when it comes to defending their own court and are 332-40 (.892) under the tutelage of Gene Roebuck ... UND is 92-15 (.860) all-time at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, which opened prior to the 2004-05 season.
- Go Sioux -
