ST. PAUL, Minn. – The road battle continues for North Dakota women's basketball, who suffered a 72-54 loss at the hands of St. Thomas in a Saturday matinee inside the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
 
UND drops to 4-16 overall and 1-6 while the Tommies improve to 10-11 and 3-4.
 
Walker Demers led the scoring for North Dakota with her double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. She was 5-of-10 from the floor and also led the team in assists (two), steals (two) and blocks (two) to load the stat sheet. London Harris followed close behind with 11 points after a 6-of-8 showing from the free throw line.
 
As a team, the Fighting Hawks were 19-of-47 from the floor, 5-of-14 from behind the arc and 11-of-15 from the free throw line. UND also pulled down 30 rebounds and earned 22 points off the bench.
 
It began as a game of short scoring runs as Mackenzie Hughes dropped in the first five points for North Dakota to bring things to a 9-5 score at the 6:46 mark. The Tommies went on a 7-1 run to push the first double-digit lead of the afternoon before Ava Miller and Harris teamed up to respond for a 7-1 run. A layup, 3-pointer and free throw helped tighten the score at 17-13 with 2:30 remaining, but neither team would score for the remainder of the quarter.  
 
Despite the momentum to close-in, North Dakota went cold in the second quarter. The Fighting Hawks would score only three free throws—no field goals—in the next 10 minutes as the home team forced a 36-16 halftime lead.
 
The Hawks showed resiliency out of the locker room, scoring 18 points in the third quarter to shave into the deficit. Demers hit the first field goal between trips to the free throw line for Harris before Lauren Hillesheim knocked down a step-back triple to make it 42-24 at the 5:32 mark.
 
She would hit again from deep after Ava Miller and Skyler Volmer each scored, but it was Mataeya Mathern who scored the final points of the quarter for the 49-34 game.
 
Sydney Piekny hit a 3-pointer from deep while Harris continued to make her way to the free throw line and Demers and Ava Miller saw action in the paint. Mikayla Aumer collected the and-1 with 4:40 remaining to make it a 62-46 spread but—despite the final three UND buckets coming from the hands of Demers—the Fighting Hawks would get no closer and drop 72-54.
 
Post-Game Notes 

• Walker Demers led the Hawks in scoring for the sixth time this season
• She also logged her eighth career double-double, marking her fourth of the season
• UND has been out-rebounded by its opponent nine times
• North Dakota scored 22 points off the bench
• The Fighting Hawks are now 1-4 on the road against the Tommies

  
How It Happened 
Q1: North Dakota 13, St. Thomas 17
Q2: North Dakota 16, St. Thomas 36
Q3: North Dakota 34, St. Thomas 49
Q4: North Dakota 54, St. Thomas 72
 
Up Next
North Dakota will return home for a fast-and-furious slate of three games in four days. It all kicks off with a rematch against Oral Roberts on Thursday, January 29 at 7 p.m.

For more information on North Dakota women's basketball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDwbasketball.