PHOENIX -- The University of North Dakota women's basketball team dropped a 73-60 decision to Grand Canyon on Friday afternoon to open the GCU Thanksgiving Classic from Phoenix, Ariz.
UND (2-3) couldn't contain the hot shooting of Emily Zars, as the former Western Illinois standout finished with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting while grabbing 12 rebounds and a steal to record a double-double for the Lopes (4-0).
Kacie Borowicz paced the offense for the fifth straight game, scoring 12 points to go alongside four rebounds and two assists to finish with another contest in double figures. Joli Daninger rebounded from a tough scoring night last time out with nine points, five rebounds and three steals in a game-high 35 minutes of play.
Freshman Rakiyah Beal had her best offensive showing as a Fighting Hawk, knocking down a team-best three triples to finish with nine points. The rookie also swiped a trio of steals, the most in a game so far this year, in a season-high 16 minutes of action. Sammiyah Hoskin put together another strong performance on the glass, following up her six-rebound performance at Montana on Sunday with a season-high seven boards on Friday, including five on the offensive glass, to go with her six points.
North Dakota closes out the GCU Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday afternoon against Manhattan at 1 p.m. from Phoenix.
Postgame Notes
- UND hit 21-of-56 (.380) from the field while GCU was 26-of-60 (.430)
- Zars was the only player in double figures for GCU (22) while Borowicz was the only one with 10-plus points for NoDak (12)
- Borowicz has led UND in points in each game this season
- The Lopes knocked down 11 triples on 29 attempts
- NoDak went just 5-for-18 from distance
- GCU forced 22 UND turnovers and scored 22 points off of them
- The Hawks turned GCU over 21 times, leading to 17 points
- Rebounds finished even at 37
- Both teams had one block and 12 steals
- UND was just 13-for-23 at the line, while GCU was 10-for-12
- The Hawks were held to just eight points in the second quarter, the lowest output this season
How It Happened
- Q1: GCU 16, UND 14
- Q2: GCU 32, UND 22
- Q3: GCU 59, UND 44
- Q4: GCU 73, UND 60
