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Southern Utah 73, North Dakota 66
Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015
Centrum Arena • Cedar City, Utah
Attendance: 1,166
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| |
1st |
2nd |
Final |
North Dakota
|
26 |
40 |
66 |
Southern Utah
|
36 |
37 |
73 |
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Statistical Comparison
|
UND |
SUU |
| FG Percentage |
33.8 |
45.2 |
| 3-Point FG Percentage |
36.8 |
34.8 |
| FT Percentage |
68.4 |
69.2 |
| Offensive Rebounds |
23 |
16 |
| Defensive Rebounds |
21 |
25 |
| Total Rebounds |
44 |
41 |
| Turnovers |
18 |
17 |
| Points Off Turnovers |
16 |
21 |
| Bench Points |
20 |
12 |
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CEDAR CITY, Utah-- Visiting North Dakota, despite a furious comeback attempt, could not overcome a sluggish 23-4 start as host Southern Utah earned a 73-66 Big Sky Conference win Saturday night. Makailah Dyer got hot late in the first half and into the second frame to help close the deficit all the way down to four but the Thunderbirds held off for the win to remain alive for a postseason league tournament spot.
"Our bench play today gave us a tremendous boost," UND head coach Travis Brewster said. "Our effort at the beginning of game needs to improve. We need to stay consistent with our effort. the one positive was Emily Evers' one-thousandth career point. Congratulations to her for achieving that milestone."
The Thunderbirds, the defending co-regular season champions in the Big Sky from last year, are fighting for their playoff lives with just one week remaining in the regular season. Saturday's win, in front of a Senior Night crowd, was led by its two seniors who helped spark that early run.
SUU fed senior Brenna Gates down low and she made of all five of her first field goal attempts as the home team also held UND without a field goal for a four-minute stretch to pile up a 14-4 advantage. It would be another five-minute dry spell that allowed SUU to burst out to a 23-4 cushion as Brewster called multiple timeouts and searched for an answer to kickstart his team.
He got some good play off the bench from a host of players, most notably freshman Grace Sawatzke, who logged 22 minutes and scored a career-best 10 points to go along with three steals, three rebounds and a pair of assists. Her play, along with Dyer catching fire late in the first half, helped the visitors whittle the deficit down to 10 at the break.
Dyer hit a deep two then followed with three triples before halftime to recover from a 1-for-7 start to the game. She continued to fan the flames in the second, connecting two more times from deep as UND got it back within five on a couple different occasions.
The second time was on a slicing layup by Sawatzke that had the score at 43-38 with still over 16 minutes to play. Southern Utah (13-13, 6-10) continually answered each UND run and got the edge back to a dozen just two minutes later.
North Dakota went on another spurt that saw the edge trimmed to four on back-to-back threes by Leah Szabla and Dyer to make it 57-53 just past midway through the second frame.
SUU immediately scored 10 straight to reclaim control and never let UND back closer than seven for the remainder of the ballgame. Senior Desiree Jackson posted a line of 19 points, eight assists, five rebounds, five steals and two blocks for the Thunderbirds.
UND drops to 17-12 overall and 9-8 in the league, but, with Idaho's earlier loss Saturday, clinched a spot in the eight-team Big Sky Conference Tournament.
Dyer led all scorers with 23 with five three-pointers in the loss. Senior Emily Evers, with her last basket in the final minute, etched her 1,000th career point, finishing with 13 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and three steals.
North Dakota hosts Northern Colorado next Saturday for Senior Day.
Notes: UND has lost three straight for the first time all season ... Evers becomes the 31st UND player to score 1,000 points ... Junior Mia Loyd remains 13 points shy of that milestone while senior Megan Lauck is 32 away ... Montana clinched the No. 1 seed and hosting rights for the Big Sky Conference Tournament with its win over Eastern Washington Saturday ... Dyer's 23 points marked her fourth 20-point game this season and eighth of her young career.
