CHARLESTON, Ill.– The North Dakota women's basketball team's early season road woes continued Thursday with a 67-55 loss to Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Ill. Despite outscoring EIU 35-21 in the second half, the Fighting Hawks were unable to overcome the first half deficit.
Nevaeh Ferrara paced the Hawks offense for the first time in her young career with 13 points. Kiera Pemberton nearly posted her second career double-double in the green and white with 11 points and eight rebounds to go with two steals.
It was the Panthers who started the game with energy, scoring the first nine points of the game and forcing an early UND timeout just two minutes into the game. Miranda VanderWal put the Hawks on the scoreboard with a midrange jumper, but the Panthers would score the next 11 points to take a 20-3 lead with 2:10 left in the first. Ferrara Horne and VanderWal added buckets late in the quarter, but the Hawks would trail 22-7 after 10 minutes of play. UND shot 3-of-16 in the opening period, while EIU connected on 9-of-20 attempts.
Eastern Illinois' momentum carried over to the second period, as took their largest lead of the night, 28, with 2:42 left in the first half following a bucket from Macy McGlone. Jayla Owen and Ferrara Horne knocked down three-pointers for the Hawks but were matched by Ellie Buzzelle who went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the second. Eastern Illinois shot .514 percent from the field in the quarter, compared to .250 percent from the Hawks.
NoDak began to chip away at the Panther lead in the third quarter by working the ball down low with 16 of its 18 points coming from the paint. An 8-0 run near the end of the third quarter pulled the Hawks within 16 points, the closest they had been to EIU lead since the end of the first quarter. However, the Panthers would score the final bucket of the third and hold a 56-38 edge with 10 minutes to play.
The third quarter was the most efficient for UND on both ends of the floor, as they connected on 8-of-14 shot attempts while holding EIU to 4-of-20 from the field. Pemberton and Kiyah Hurst combined for 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the third.
Looking for a fourth quarter rally, the Hawks cut the Panther lead to 10 on two occasions in the opening three minutes, but were unable to pull within single-digits. NoDak increased its defensive pressure in the quarter, forcing seven EIU turnovers that turned into six points. The Hawks, however, were held to seven points over the final seven minutes of play with Eastern Illinois securing the 67-55 win.
North Dakota will be off for a week before returning to the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center next Friday for a meeting with Mayville State at 7:00 p.m.
Postgame Notes
- Nevaeh Ferrara Horne paced the Hawks and had a career-high 13 points
- Kiera Pemberton led UND in rebounding for the fourth time this season
- Pemberton recorded double-digit points for the third game in a row
- UND recorded double-digit offensive rebounds for the second straight game with 16 and scored 15 second chance points
- Fatima Ibrahim doubled her previous season-best block total with four today
- UND turned the Panthers over 17 times and had three players record two steals each
- NoDak scored 30 points in the paint and received 29 points from the bench unit
- Eastern Illinois shot an even .400 percent from the field and went 10-for-11 from the free throw line
- EIU had three players reach double-digit scoring and were led by Macy McGlone's double-double
How It Happened
Q1: EIU 22, UND 7
Q2: EIU 46, UND 20
Q3: EIU 56, UND 38
Q4: EIU 67, UND 55
For more information on North Dakota women's basketball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDwbasketball.
