GRAND FORKS, N.D.-- Sophomore Julia Fleecs poured in a career-high 19 off the bench as host North Dakota zoomed past Mayville State, 84-50, in UND's non-conference home finale Wednesday night at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Four players finished in double-figures with Lexi Klabo adding 18, Melissa Dailey with 15 and Jill Morton adding 14 for the Fighting Hawks.Â
"It's got to be part of our mantra that if we're not hitting shots that we play some defense," UND head coach Travis Brewster. "Offensively, we got Alaina Jarnot going with seven assists and just two turnovers, she made everybody better out there. Julia Fleecs is very athletic and she's starting to feel a little more comfortable with what she's doing. If she can get her herself going like she was doing, it's going to be good."
UND did hit its shots tonight, however, it was the defense that took center stage. The Fighting Hawks nabbed a season-high 18 steals and blocked four shots to set themselves up for some easy looks. It was 6-0 quickly as Morton scored then ripped a ball cleanly on a Comet defensive rebound attempt and the home team was the aggressor early.Â
The visitors stayed in it in the first half with the help of long-distance shots, making seven of them before halftime to keep the Hawks' lead to just 11. Two lengthy scoreless stretches did the Comets in with a four-minute stint in the first quarter that saw a one-point Comet lead turn into a 10-point UND advantage, then later, UND kept MSU (4-5) off the scoreboard for the opening 5:18 to race out to an 18-point edge.Â
At the end of the third, Fleecs was able to bank in a bucket to beat the buzzer then she tripled to start the fourth to send the home team well on its way to its 33rd consecutive win over Mayville State without a defeat in the all-time series.Â
North Dakota (3-7) heads to Deland, Fla., for three games in three days at Stetson University. It starts with the host Hatters on Dec. 19, followed by games against Western Michigan and San Francisco on the following two afternoons.Â
NOTES
*Fleecs followed up a nine-point effort Sunday at Iowa State with her 19 Wednesday, leading UND in back-to-back games in scoring.Â
*UND shot 52.4 percent from the floor, a season high
*North Dakota's six triples tied a season best
*Melissa Dailey's 15 points marked her seventh game in her UND career scoring 15 points or more
*North Dakota turned the ball over a season-low 12 times and was a positive in assist-to-turnover ratio (16-12)
*Alaina Jarnot's seven assists were her most in a Fighting Hawks uniform
*UND had six players with multiple steals
*North Dakota scored 32 of its points off Mayville State's 28 turnovers
*The Fighting Hawks had 21 second-chance points off 17 offensive boards while MSU had just offensive boards and zero second-chance points
