DELAND, Fla.-- A 15-1 run that spanned the first and second quarters propelled North Dakota in front of Western Michigan, winning 62-50 in the second day of the Hatter Classic Thursday at Stetson University. The Fighting Hawk defense allowed just 27 percent shooting from the floor against the Broncos en route to the win. 

Senior Jill Morton had eight quick points in that first period on the way to a team-high 14 as North Dakota spread around the scoring load. Senior Lexi Klabo added a dozen-- 10 in the second half-- with Julia Fleecs chipping in nine and Faith Dooley and Bailey Strand each with seven points and seven rebounds. 

"I thought the ladies did a nice job with a couple things tonight," UND head coach Travis Brewster said. "We talked about closeouts and we talked about being on a good help-side midline. The biggest thing about it, we had to work our guards on playing post defense. I just liked our defensive effort throughout the whole game. I thought we did a good job of controlling tempo of the game and defending them at the three-point line. This is probably our most complete game of the year."

With WMU (4-5) holding its only lead at 12-11 in the first quarter, UND embarked on that long scoring run, holding the Broncos without a field goal for 6:24, piling up an advantage of 13 midway through the second frame. The Fighting Hawks squandered just 22 first-half points and held a 10-point edge at the break. 

In the second half, North Dakota scored eight of the first nine points to regain command of the score, leading 41-25 with six minutes and change remaining in the quarter. That lead grew to as many as 18 to end the frame as North Dakota dictated tempo throughout. 
North Dakota (4-8) closes the Hatter Classic Friday with a noon tip against San Francisco. 

NOTES
*UND tied a season-low allowing just 50 opponent points (Dec. 12 vs. Mayville State-- both wins).
*Jill Morton hit all eight of her free-throw attempts, a new career best.
*Morton became the third different player to pace UND in scoring in the last three games (Morton, Melissa Dailey, Julia Fleecs.
*Lexi Klabo scored her 1,308th career point to move past current associate head coach Mallory Bernhard for 17th place on UND's all-time scoring list.