COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Led by 16 points from Alicia Leipprandt, Air Force was able to fend off a North Dakota comeback as the Falcons won 65-54 tonight at the Clune Arena.
UND (7-9) went into the half trailing 27-23, but then opened the second half with a 14-5 run to take a 37-32 advantage. Air Force (5-9) managed to regain a small lead, and as the clock wound down, it seemed to be anyone's game. Following a 54-54 tie, the Falcons used the final three minutes to put up 11 unanswered points to take the 65-54 win.
"We just weren't in it from the beginning," head coach Gene Roebuck said. "I know that we've had a long road trip, but this game was winnable. If you want to win a game, it shouldn't matter if you've been on the road for 10 days or 20 days, you have to be ready to go out there and play. We just made too many mistakes, both on offense and defense."
Leipprandt finished 7-for-13 from the field and added a three-pointer and a free throw to lead a trio of Falcons in double figures. Megan O'Neil finished with 13 points and Jamela Satterfield came away with 10. Air Force shot 44.9 percent from the field (22-for-49), 33.3 percent (2-for-6) at three-point range, and 65.5 percent (19-for-29) at the free throw line.
Sophomore forward Madi Buck led North Dakota with 10 points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field (all three-pointers) and a 1-for-2 showing at the line. The Bismarck, N.D., native added a team-high seven rebounds (four defensive) and nabbed three steals.
North Dakota shot 28.6 percent (16-for-56) from the field, 24 percent (6-for-25) at three-point range, and 69.6 percent (16-for-23) at the charity stripe. UND scored 24 points off of AF's 24 turnovers and banked 10 on second chances. The North Dakota bench out-scored the Air Force bench 24-18.
After a scoreless three minutes, Leipprandt dropped in the first basket (16:54), and a minute later, Satterfield hit a jumper of her own to give the Falcons the four-point lead. Junior guard Nicole Smart (Ada, Minn.) ended North Dakota's scoring silence with a three, but UND just wasn't able to put together a run. At the second media timeout of the night (11:22), Air Force led 9-4.
Outside of the timeout, UND went on a quick 5-2 run, but Air Force answered with a 9-3 clip to take an eight-point lead - its largest of the half - with 6:14 on the clock. Buck put a stop to the run as she cashed in her first three-pointer of the night. Following a free throw by O'Neil, UND connected on a pair of free throws to pull back within four with just under five minutes left in the half.
Inside the four-minute mark, Leipprandt managed to snatch the ball from true freshman guard Brianna Williams (Minneapolis, Minn.) and then took the ball to the hole for two. Senior guard Charnise Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.) answered for North Dakota, but then the Falcons put together four straight points to take a 27-19 lead with 81 seconds remaining. With four points before the horn, including a three-pointer by Buck, North Dakota went into the break trailing 27-23.
In the first half, North Dakota shot 7-for-26 (26.9 percent) from the field, 4-for-13 (30.8 percent) behind the arc and 5-for-10 (50 percent) at the free throw line. Air Force was 11-for-25 from the field (44 percent), 1-for-3 (33.3 percent) from three-point range, and 4-for-8 (50 percent) at the line.
O'Neil struck first for Air Force just 10 seconds into the second frame, but this time UND was there with a big response. Kicked off by a free throw from Mothershed (19:32), the Green and White scored seven unanswered points to take a 30-29 lead - its first advantage of the night. North Dakota took the lead after Williams boarded her own miss and then kissed it off of the glass for two (15:22).
With a basket and the point after, O'Neil put the lead back in the hands of the Falcons, but the lead was short-lived as North Dakota used an 8-0 run to lead 37-32 with 12:34 on the clock. Sophomore forward Katie Houdek (Grafton, N.D.) scored the first two points of the run. Junior guard Carly Rothfusz (Eden Prairie, Minn.) followed with a pair of free throws and three-pointer.
Air Force used a 7-2 run to knot the game at 39-39 (10:32). After trading baskets, the Falcons added a 5-2 clip to take a 46-43 advantage. Buck knotted the game at 46-46 (8:38) with her third three-pointer of the game, but Leipprandt answered with a three of her own to take back the lead for Air Force.
UND battled back to a 54-54 tie (3:22), but with 11 unanswered points for the Falcons in the final three minutes, Air Force came away with the victory.
North Dakota will play its first home game in nearly a month when it hosts Jamestown for a Thursday night battle at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Jan. 12. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m.
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