EDINBURG, Texas - Despite a 24-point effort from senior forward Mallory Youngblut, the University of North Dakota fell 69-62 to Texas-Pan American in the 2010-11 regular season finale in Edinburg, Texas.
"We gave it a lot of effort," UND head coach Gene Roebuck said. "With three games in one week and all of the travel we had to do these past few days, we were a little tired. Now we have to turn around and prepare ourselves for the Great West Tournament."
With the loss, UND finished with a regular season record of 13-15 and will go into the 2010-11 Great West Conference Tournament as the No. 3 with a conference mark of 8-4. The Broncs moved to 12-18 on the season will go into the tournament as the No. 5 seed with a GWC record of 4-8.
Youngblut, a native of Davenport, Iowa, shot 8-for-14 from the field, 3-for-4 from three-point range, and 5-for-6 at the free throw line. She scored eight points in the final 32 seconds of the game with a pair of three-pointers and a swift drive down the lane for the lay-in. She added a season-high seven assists, three steals and led the team with nine rebounds.
In just 16 minutes on the floor, freshman center Allyssa Wall (North Sioux City, S.D.) accumulated 10 points, four rebounds and a trio of blocked shots.
The Sioux shot 46.5 percent (20-for-43) from the field, 45.5 percent (5-for-11) from three-point range and 89.5 percent (17-for-19) at the free throw line. UND was held to just two three-pointers in the opening half.
UTPA was led by Donna Jackson's 18-point, 11-rebound double-double. She shot 5-for-10 from the field and went 8-for-9 at the free throw line. CeMonay Newell finished with 15 points - all from beyond the arc, Bianca Torre came away with 13 points, and Re-Shawndra Jackson added another 12 points.
The Broncs shot 38.9 percent from the field (21-for-54), 40.9 percent (9-for-22) behind the arc and 81.8 percent (18-for-22) at the free throw line. Due much in part by Newell's four second half three-pointers, UTPA improved on its 25 percent (2-for-8) start in the opening 20 minutes.
UND won the rebounding battle 35-27 and scored 24 points in the paint.
UTPA converted UND's 33 turnovers into 32 points and scored 12 points on second chances.
North Dakota took an early 4-2 lead on baskets from freshman forward Megan Lauck (Arden Hills, Minn.) and Wall, but the Broncs responded with a 5-0 run to take an 8-4 advantage (17:20). The teams traded baskets until six straight points from Erin Lewis gave UTPA the 16-8 lead.
After Youngblut and Torre each sank a pair of free throws, the Fighting Sioux set out on a 10-0 run that would give them a 23-18 lead with 3:48 on the clock. The run started with a three-pointer from freshman guard Carly Rothfusz (Eden Prairie, Minn.) at 9:34. Freshman forward Megan Lauck (Arden Hills, Minn.) sank a basket on the drive and the free throw to follow, freshman forward Madi Buck (Bismarck, N.D.) swished a three from the right-side baseline and freshman center Katie Houdek (Grafton, N.D.) scored her first points of the game with a layup.
Donna Jackson put an end to the run with a jumper and then Newell hit from three-point range to knot the game at 23-23 with 2:30 remaining in the opening half.
Going into the break, North Dakota led 25-23.
Inside the new half, the Sioux wasted no time regaining the lead and through the first two minutes, they built a nine-point lead. After grabbing a 30-26 advantage just 78 seconds in, Youngblut gave UND the 35-26 lead with a steal turned layup and a three-pointer.
UTPA cut the lead down to three with a 6-0 run, but UND managed to kick the margin back out to six points.
And then the Broncs lit up from outside the arc.
Newell hit the first three and then Torre and Jackson followed in suit to give UTPA a 44-41 lead with 9:20 on the clock.
Despite all of their efforts, the Fighting Sioux were unable to regain the upper hand.
With the help of two more three's by Newell and another from Torre, UTPA led 64-54 with just 34 seconds remaining in the game.
Youngblut kept the Sioux in the game with her eight late-game points, but the Broncs had already dug their hooves in deep.
North Dakota will turn around and head to Orem, Utah, for the 2010-11 Great West Conference Tournament where UND has already secured the No. 3 seed. Chicago State will go in as the top seed followed by South Dakota. GWC action will begin on Wednesday, March 9. The Fighting Sioux will play either the 2 p.m. or the 5:30 p.m. game.
GAME NOTES: With 24 points today, Mallory Youngblut surpassed Kami Winger to move into the No. 16 spot on UND's all-time scoring list with 1,265 career points. Winger tallied 1,263 points from 1995-99 ... Youngblut finished with the 60th double figure game and the 13th 20-plus point game of her career and extended her double digit streak to six games. She also tied season highs in assists (seven) and steals (three) ... With 318 points on the season, Allyssa Wall ranks eighth on UND's all-time freshman scoring list. She also tied with Kierah Kimbrough at the No. 8 spot in single-season blocks (64) ... North Dakota leads the all-time series against Texas-Pan American 3-1. UND leads 2-0 in Grand Forks and the teams are tied at 1-1 in Edinburg ... Since the inaugural season of the Great West Conference (2008-09), UND has gone 19-5 against league foes and 29-36 against non-conference opponents ... The University of North Dakota women's basketball program holds a 781-296 record all-time since the first game was played in 1974. Under head coach Gene Roebuck, UND is 605-132 ... 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 -
