GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The North Dakota Fighting Hawks (7-8) beat the Omaha Mavericks (5-8), 71-57, at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Thursday evening. UND ended the evening with four players in double figures.


Kacie Borowicz led North Dakota with 17 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.
 
Claire Orth ended the evening with 15 points, eight rebounds, three steals and one block.
 
Olivia Lane was the third Fighting Hawks to end the night in the double-digits with 12 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.
 
Maggie Manson rounded out the four ending in double figures netting ten points.
 
Melissa Leet rounded out the starting line-up with six points, four blocks, and one steal.
 
Joli Daninger came off the bench and finished the evening with seven points and seven rebounds.
 
Sammiyah Hoskin ended the evening with four points and two rebounds.

The Fighting Hawks finished the evening shooting 50.0 percent from inside the arch, 42.9 percent from outside, and 88.9 percent from the free throw line. The Mavericks hit their shots at 35.6 percent from the field, 27.3 percent beyond the arch, and 90.0 percent from the line.

North Dakota took the initial lead with a layup from Lane, but the Mavericks tied it seconds later with their own layup. The back-and-forth battle continued until 7:47 when the Mavericks hit a three pointer to give them the lead (7-6). North Dakota retook the lead with layup from Leet, but Omaha took it back seconds later. The lead changes continued as the Fighting Hawks took it once more before the Mavericks took it at 5:18 and extended it with back-to-back baskets to put them up 13-10. Daninger netted a three to tie the game at 13 with 3:10 left in the first, and Borowicz hit a free throw to give them a one-point lead before the battle for the lead would continue. It was Omaha who ended the first quarter up by four (20-16).

Starting the second quarter, Manson hit a three and then a jumper to give the Fighting Hawks a 21-20 lead. North Dakota extended the lead with a jumper from Hoskins, but the Mavericks responded with a layup in the next possession. UND hit three jumpers back-to-back to give them a 6-0 run towards the middle of the second. Grace Cave netted a three to attempt to stop the run, but North Dakota's offense continued to attack as they went on a 15-2 run. Cave hit yet another three at 3:07, which helped shift the momentum to the Mavericks who went on a 10-0 run late in the quarter to bring them within three. North Dakota maintained a 38-35 lead headed into halftime.

The Fighting Hawks started the third hot with 10-2 run until they were stopped by back-to-back Maverick baskets with just under six minutes left to play in the quarter. North Dakota responded to those baskets with their own as they continued to attack on offense and place pressure on defense, which resulted in six straight points for the Hawks before a Maverick scored a layup to try to keep them within ten. The Fighting Hawks headed into the fourth up 54-44.
 
The teams traded baskets early in the fourth, but the Fighting Hawks were able to hit a stride as they went on a 6-0 run towards the middle of the quarter. The Mavericks continued to battle, but they were unable to catch up to the Hawks. North Dakota won the game 71-57 with four players ending the night in double figures.

Mariah Murdie led the Mavericks earning a double-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals. Cave finished in double-digits with 18 points, two rebounds, five assists and four steals.

North Dakota will remain at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center as they host Denver on Saturday, Jan. 8 at 1 p.m.