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OREM, Utah - Led by 19 points from senior forward Mallory Youngblut, the third-ranked University of North Dakota women's basketball team used a group effort to knock out No. 6 NJIT, 83-56, and move into the semifinal round of the 2011 Great West Conference Tournament.

After a 73-64 upset win over No. 2 South Dakota in game one, seventh-ranked Houston Baptist advanced to the semifinal round. The Fighting Sioux (14-15) will face the Huskies (4-24) on Friday at 1 p.m. (central).

"What I liked the most about today is that we had a real balanced team," UND head coach Gene Roebuck said. "We had a couple of players play exceptional today.

"Now with South Dakota getting beat by Houston Baptist, we have an opportunity to get to the finals. We just have to play the same type of basketball that we played today. We slowed ourselves down a bit on offense and didn't take as many risks."

A native of Davenport, Iowa, Youngblut drilled a three-pointer at 19:40 to start the game and give UND a lead that it would hold onto for the remaining 39 minutes and 20 seconds. She led UND shooting 6-for-11 from the field and 6-for-9 at the free throw line. She also added a team-high nine rebounds (seven defensive) and seven assists.

Youngblut, who went into the halftime break leading all players with 17 points, is now ranked 15th all-time at UND with 1,284 career points surpassing Jenny Walter's (1988-92) 1,276 career points.

"Not taking away from the way Mallory played, she had a heck of a game, but it was a total team effort," Roebuck said. "In the pregame I told the team that someone besides Mallory needed to step up and we got several players to do that today. I was very proud of them for that."

Freshman forward Megan Lauck (Arden Hills, Minn.) shot 4-for-6 from the field and 3-for-4 at the charity stripe to finish with 12 points. Lauck, who also added eight defensive rebounds, scored all but four of her total points in the second half. Senior forward Corey Lof (Detroit Lakes, Minn.) came away with 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 performance at the free throw line. She scored eight of her points in the second half.

"Corey may have had her best career game today," Roebuck said. "I know she has scored more points, but today she was really aggressive. Also, Lauck hit some bit shots for us and was effective on the boards."

After freshman center Allyssa Wall (North Sioux City, S.D.) was called for a flagrant foul and subsequently ejected from the game at 2:27 in the first half, redshirt freshman Katie Houdek stepped in to fill her shoes.

"The only thing I told Allyssa at halftime was to be smart with what you do next time," Roebuck said.

Houdek, a native of Grafton, N.D., led the bench with 11 points shooting 2-for-2 from the field and 7-for-11 at the free throw line.

"One of the most important players to step up tonight was Houdek," Roebuck said. "After Allyssa went out, Katie played exceptionally well. She really went at them and got herself to the free throw line. Katie just used her instincts tonight. She is quick and strong when she just plays without stopping to think. I think today she wanted to cover Allyssa's back and she did just that."

Also with a big game off of the bench was sophomore guard Nicole Smart. The Ada, Minn., native shot a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, including a three-pointer, and sank a free throw to finish with 10 points. Smart also added a trio of assists.

"I also have to give Smart a lot of credit. She came in, knocked down shots, and didn't turn the ball over."

UND shot a season-high 62.8 percent (27-for-43) from the field and was 65 percent (26-for-40) at the free throw line. The Sioux shot a season-low seven three-pointers to finish 3-for-7 (42.9 percent) beyond the arc.

UND converted NJIT's 18 turnovers into 26 points and scored 28 points in the paint and the bench combined for 30 points.

NJIT was led by Jessica Gerald, who shot 5-for-15 from behind the arc. Ivana Seric finished with a team-high nine rebounds.

The Highlanders shot 33.3 percent (21-for-63) from the field, 28.6 percent (8-for-28) from three-point range, and 54.5 percent (6-for-11) at the free throw line.

GAME NOTES: With 19 points today, Mallory Youngblut surpassed Jenny Walter to move into the No. 15 spot on UND's all-time scoring list with 1,284 career points. Walter tallied 1,2676 points from 1988-92 ... Youngblut finished with the 61th double figure game of her career and extended her double digit streak to seven games ... With 322 points on the season, Allyssa Wall ranks eighth on UND's all-time freshman scoring list. She is also ranked eighth in single-season blocks (65) ... North Dakota leads the all-time series against NJIT 5-0. UND leads 2-0 in Grand Forks, 2-0 in Newark and 1-0 on neutral ground ... Since the inaugural season of the Great West Conference (2008-09), UND has gone 19-5 against league foes and 30-36 against non-conference opponents ... The University of North Dakota women's basketball program holds a 782-296 record all-time since the first game was played in 1974. Under head coach Gene Roebuck, UND is 606-132 ... 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 -