Game 29
No. 3 North Dakota (13-15, 8-4 GWC)
vs.
No. 6 NJIT (7-20, 3-9 GWC)
Date: Wednesday, March 9
Time: 6 p.m. (central)
Place: UCCU Center | Orem, Utah
UND radio: 100.3 FM (CatCountry)
Web audio
Web audio/video (UVU-TV free webcast)
Live stats
Live chat
UP NEXT FOR NORTH DAKOTA
The third-seeded Fighting Sioux (13-15, 8-4 GWC) will open the 2010-11 Great West Conference Tournament on Wednesday, March 9 as they face No. 6 NJIT (7-20, 3-9 GWC). The Sioux and the Highlanders will tip off at 6 p.m. (central) at the UCCU Center in Orem, Utah.
LIVE FROM OREM
Wednesday's Great West Conference Tournament game against NJIT will be broadcast live on KSNR 100.3 FM (CatCountry) with Paul Ralston handling the play-by-play. All Fighting Sioux women's basketball games - home and away - can be heard on KSNR 100.3 FM (CatCountry) and on select stations across the Fighting Sioux radio network. Stay tuned for schedule changes.
Links for live radio, a live audio/video webcast, live chat, and live stats can be found on the home of UND athletics, FightingSioux.com.
Want to listen to the game, but don't have access to a computer? KSNR 100.3 (CatCountry) can be accessed using the iheartradio application on your mobile device .
SERIES HISTORY ... NJIT
In their last meeting on Feb. 26 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, North Dakota defeated NJIt 58-37 after holding the Highlanders to just 17 first half points. 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.
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.
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.
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.
SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS (7-20, 3-9 GWC)
NJIT, which won six of 10 games between December 22 and February 3, finished the schedule with eight consecutive losses. The slide began with a 67-51 home loss against North Dakota on Feb. 10. The teams met again on February 26 in Grand Forks, N.D., where the Highlanders dropped a 58-37 decision to the Fighting Sioux.
NJIT is led by Great West All-Conference first team member Jessica Gerald, who is averaging 14.8 ppg both in overall games and in league only games. Gerald is shooting 30.3 percent from three-point range and 81.1 percent at the free throw line. She averages 2.5 rpg and 1.0 spg.
Rayven Johnson is averaging 10.8 ppg overall and 12.2 ppg in conference play. She is second on the team with 6.3 rpg and is shooting 29.1 percent beyond the arc.
The Highlanders' top rebounder is Ivana Seric. She is averaging 6.4 rpg overall and 7.5 rpg against GWC opponents.
Both Johnson and Seric were named all-conference honorable mention.
As a team, NJIT is shooting 34.2 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from three-point range, and 65.9 percent at the free throw line. The Highlanders are averaging 53.4 ppg while giving up 67 ppg.
NJIT HEAD COACH MARGARET MCKEON
Margaret McKeon joined the NJIT women's basketball program as head coach in July 2007. At first, wins were hard to come by, as McKeon's first NJIT team opened at 2-10. But the new approach began to bear fruit in early January and the Highlanders went 8-9 the rest of the way, including a 2-1 record in the national Independent Division I Tournament. Their final record of 10-19 more than doubled the win total from NJIT's first season of Division I competition (4-24 overall, 3-23 against Division I opponents in 2006-07). The six-win improvement from one year to the next was the second-best in the 21-season history of the program, topped only by a jump of 11 wins (4 to 15) between 2000-01 and 2001-02 at the Division II level.
McKeon's track record includes five NCAA Division I postseason tournament appearances in her years as an assistant coach and head coach. During her five years as head coach at Boston University (1999-2004), McKeon transformed the Terriers from a team with five wins the season before her arrival to one that earned a spot in the NCAA Division I Tournament her fourth year and was only a game short of repeating as America East Conference champion the following year.
NOTING THE SIOUX (13-15, 8-4 GWC)
Picked to repeat as Great West Conference champions in the 2010-11 preseason coaches poll, the University of North Dakota women's basketball team is in its third year of transition towards NCAA Division I status.
In the final game of the regular season, the Fighting Sioux fell to Texas-Pan American, 69-62, in Edinburg, Texas (March 5). Senior forward Mallory Youngblut (Davenport, Iowa) led both teams with 24 points, including eight in the final 32 seconds. Led by 18 points from Donna Jackson, the Broncs finished with four players in double figures.
A 2011 GWC All-Conference first team selection, Youngblut leads the Sioux averaging 13.9 ppg overall and 15.7 ppg agaisnt GWC foe. She also leads the team and the league with an 86.5 free throw shooting percentage and is first on the team averaging 5.3 rpg.
The youngest member of both the all-conference and the GWC All-Newcomer team, freshman center Allyssa Wall (North Sioux City, S.D.) is listed second on the team averaging 11.4 ppg overall and 12.8 ppg in league play. She is shooting a team-best 52.5 percent from the field and has grabbed 4.9 rpg.
UND's second-leading rebounder is senior forward Corey Lof. The Detroit Lakes, Minn., native is averaging 5.1 rpg overall and 5.9 rpg during league play. She leads the team averaging 1.9 spg and is averaging 7.1 ppg against GWC opponents.
During conference action UND is shooting 42.3 percent from the field, 36.6 percent from three-point range, and 74.9 at the free throw line. The Sioux have averaged 67.8 ppg while allowing 60.8.
YOUNGBLUT, WALL NAMED TO GWC ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Announced by the Great West Conference offices on Tuesday, University of North Dakota senior forward Mallory Youngblut and freshman center Allyssa Wall have been named to the 2010-11 Great West All-Conference team.
A preseason first team selection, Youngblut earned first team honors for the second straight season while Wall was named to both the all-conference second team and the five-player GWC All-Newcomer team.
Heading into the Great West Conference Tournament, Youngblut, a native of Davenport, Iowa, leads both UND and the GWC with an 86.5 percent free throw shooting average. Among all players in the GWC, she ranks second in three-point percentage (40.6), fifth in three-pointers made (2.3/game), sixth in assists (3.6/game), seventh in scoring average (13.9 ppg), and eighth in field goal percentage (42.8), defensive rebounds (4.0/game) and steals (1.5/game).
Earlier this season Youngblut became the 29th member of UND's 1,000-Point Club. She currently ranks 17th all-time at UND with 1,265 career points.
A native of North Sioux City, S.D., Wall sits as the only freshman listed on both the all-conference and all-newcomer teams. She leads all freshman and ranks second in the league with a 52.5 field goal percentage. Among all conference players, Wall ranks second in blocked shots (2.3/game), sixth in free throw percentage (73.1), 12th in scoring average (11.4 ppg), 14th in defensive rebounds (3.4/game) and 16th in rebounds (4.9/game).
With 318 points already this season, Wall ranks eighth on UND's all-time freshman scoring list.
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE FRESHMEN
From the get-go, this season's freshmen class has stepped in, stepped up, and had a major impact on the Fighting Sioux basketball season. The trio of Allyssa Wall (North Sioux City, S.D.), Megan Lauck (Arden Hills, Minn.), and Madi Buck (Bismarck, N.D.) are listed 2-3-4 on the team in scoring average, respectively, and have combined for 37.1 percent (679-for-1,828) of UND's total points this season.
They are shooting a combined 44.1 percent (238-for-540) from the field and are 72.2 percent (164-for-227) at the free throw line.
Led by Wall's 136 boards (95 defensive), the trio have brought down 31.9 percent of UND's rebounds.
LAST ACTION
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.
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.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING
With 24 points against Texas-Pan American (March 5), senior forward Mallory Youngblut is currently on a six-game double figure scoring streak. A native of Davenport, Iowa, Youngblut's longest career streak was a nine-game run that included the final six games of the 2009-10 season and the first three games of the 2010-11 season.
13 IS THE NEW 20
With the addition of her 24-point game at Texas-Pan American (March 5), senior forward Mallory Youngblut (Davenport, Iowa) has now tallied 13 20-plus point games during her four-year career at the University of North Dakota.
NOT EVERYONE RETIRES IN THEIR 60S
Through her 119 game in a Fighting Sioux jersey, senior forward Mallory Younglbut has recorded 60 games in double figures. This season alone, the Davenport, Iowa native has hit the double digit mark on 21 occasions.
RECORD REWIND
The University of North Dakota women's basketball program holds a 781-297 (.724) record all-time since the first game was played in 1974. Under head coach Gene Roebuck, UND is 605-133 (.820).
Click the PDF link above to view the complete game notes release ...
- Go Sioux -
