MOSCOW, Idaho - The University of North Dakota women's basketball team ended a three-game skid and opened the New Year in the win column with a 78-68 win over Idaho at the Cowan Spectrum. With four players finishing in double figures, UND shifted to 7-8 on the season and 2-1 against Idaho. The loss dropped the Vandals to 5-10.
"There was a few times where we didn't play all that well, but there were more times where we did play well," head coach Gene Roebuck said. "I'm proud of our girls for pulling together and getting this win tonight. It's a good way to start the New Year."
Leading the way for UND was sophomore forward Madi Buck with her fifth double-double of the season. The Bismarck, N.D., native shot 7-for-15 from the field, including a career-high-tying four three-pointers, and went 1-for-2 at the line for 19 points. She led both sides with 11 rebounds (eight defensive) and registered three assists.
True freshman guard Brianna Williams (Minneapolis, Minn.) finished with a career-high 14 points and her first collegiate double-figure game. She was 4-for-11 from the field and a personal-best 6-for-8 at the free throw line.
Senior guard Charnise Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.) landed her first double-figure game in over a month, shooting 5-for-10 from the field, including a season-high three three-pointers, for 13 points. She also added a team-best five assists. Rounding out the double-figure finishes for UND was sophomore forward Megan Lauck (Shoreview, Minn.), who went 3-for-7 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 at the line for 10 points.
"Some of our younger players really stepped up tonight, and we're going to need for that to continue as we head into the conference season," Roebuck said.
UND shot a combined 27-for-69 (39.1 percent) from the field, 7-for-22 (31.8 percent) from three-point range, and 17-for-22 (77.3 percent) at the free throw line. North Dakota won the rebounding battle 48-38, and led by Williams and Lauck, UND's bench out-scored the Vandal reserves 37-25.
With 16 points, Keri Arendse led a trio of Idaho players to finish in double-digits. Stacey Barr scored 15 and Alyssa Charlston came away with 13.
For the 15th straight game, UND held its opponent to under 50 percent shooting. The Vandals went 25-for-61 (41 percent) from the field, 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) behind the three-point arc, and 13-for-21 (61.9 percent) at the charity stripe.
North Dakota struck first as senior guard Charnay Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.) found her sister Charnise Mothershed open on the perimeter just 23 seconds into the game. Arendse answered for the Vandals, and then shortly after, Charlston sunk her first basket to give Idaho the 4-2 lead (18:10). That would prove to be the only lead for the home team as UND set out to avenge last week's 53-50 loss to Idaho at the Lady Griz Holiday Classic.
Sophomore forward Katie Houdek (Grafton, N.D.) passed off to Buck for the tying shot, and then Houdek herself laid it off of the glass to regain the lead for North Dakota. At the 15:44 mark, Houdek found Buck again, this time for a three-pointer to make it 9-4 UND. A pair of free throws by Charlston brought the Vandals back within three, but with a pair of free throws from Lauck as its spark, North Dakota set out on a 13-5 clip to lead 22-11. Inside the run, Lauck had six, Williams two and Charnise Mothershed dropped in the final three with 10:47 on the clock.
A 6-0 run brought Idaho back to within five, but UND managed to push the margin back out to nine. With another run, this time a 7-0 clip, the Vandals trailed by just two (26-24) with 2:13 left in the opening half. After a quick point trade, Williams and redshirt freshman center Emily Evers (Grand Forks, N.D.) both found the inside of the rim to give UND the 32-26 lead at halftime.
North Dakota opened the second half strong, out-scoring Idaho 14-5 in the first five minutes. The run was highlighted by 10 points from Buck, including back-to-back three-pointers inside the 17-minute mark.
Trailing 46-31, Barr struck from three-point-range, but UND countered with eight straight points to nab a 20-point lead (54-34) - its largest of the game - with 12:44 remaining.
UND held off the Vandal attack until a short jumper by Jessica Graham (9:23) sparked a 12-3 run for Idaho that would bring the score to 63-52 (6:11). Charnise Mothershed halted the run with a three at 4:46, but the Vandals picked back up with an 11-4 run to trail by just four (70-66) with 1:09 remaining in the game.
The rest of the game was played out from the free throw line as the teams combined for 12 shots at the charity stripe. Shooting 8-for-10 from the line in the final minute, UND held off the Vandals and snapped its three-game losing streak.
North Dakota will remain on the road as it faces Air Force on Thursday evening in Colorado Springs, Colo. This will mark the first meeting between UND and the Falcons since 1985.
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