GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota women's basketball was halted by South Dakota State's offensive firepower on Wednesday evening, falling to the Jackrabbits 99-47 inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
UND drops to 4-15 overall and 1-5 while SDSU improves to 15-5 and 5-1.
Mackenzie Hughes led the scoring for the Fighting Hawks with her 18 points while
Finley Ohnstad came off the bench in flaming fashion, dropping a career-high 14 points off 5-of-6 shooting from the floor.
Ava Miller tallied a team-high in rebounds (six) and assists (three) while tying her career high in blocks (four).
North Dakota was a chilly 15-of-47 from the floor, 8-of-29 from behind the arc and 9-of-11 from the free throw line. South Dakota State stifled the Fighting Hawks on the boards, holding the 40-17 advantage, while shooting 61.3-percent from the floor and 63.6-percent from 3-point land.
Hughes started the game with an impressive triple to take the 3-0 lead before Brooklyn Meyer of SDSU single-handedly took the lead.
Lauren Hillesheim knocked down a 3-pointer from the logo in her first career start to regain the lead at the 7:35 mark, but Meyer struck again to tie things up and the Hawks would not hold control for the remainder of the game. The Jackrabbits went on 7-0 and 6-0 runs sandwiched between four points from Hughes to take the 19-10 lead at the quarter break.
SDSU rattled off a 12-2 run to open the second in just over four minutes, firmly pushing the lead to double digits. Hillesheim stopped the initial rally with a free throw and a layup at the 5:03 mark—bringing it to a 31-15 game—but the visitors ran away with a 15-3 scoring stretch to go ahead 46-18 at the half.
Hughes again broke open a half with another triple and the Jacks fired back with seven points to push the lead to 30.
Ava Miller hit a pair of free throws before the game quickly slid to a 69-23 deficit with 2:20 remaining. Ohnstad came in off the bench and immediately lit it up by scoring on three straight possessions with two 3-pointers and a second-chance jumper. But SDSU still held the 76-33 lead.
Mikayla Aumer hit a jumper of her own before teaming up with Hughes for back-to-back triples. Ohnstad collected a complete three-point play and knocked down her third 3-pointer of the night to highlight the fourth, but UND would fall 99-47.
Post-Game Notes
- Finley Ohnstad scored a career-high 14 points
- Lauren Hillesheim registered her first career start
- Ava Miller led the team in rebounding for the 11th time this season
- UND's 17 rebounds mark a season-low
- The four total blocks tie a season-high for the Fighting Hawks
- Mackenzie Hughes has scored in double figures eight times this year
- NoDak has now dropped 20 straight games to SDSU
How It Happened
Q1: North Dakota 10, South Dakota State 19
Q2: North Dakota 18, South Dakota State 46
Q3: North Dakota 33, South Dakota State 76
Q4: North Dakota 47, South Dakota State 99
Up Next
North Dakota women's basketball hits the road for a Saturday afternoon contest at St. Thomas on January 24. Game time is set for 2 p.m. in St. Paul.
For more information on North Dakota women's basketball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media
@UNDwbasketball.
