GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota women's basketball stormed back from a nearly-lethal third quarter to force a five-point game late, but the rally would fall just short as UND fell to Oral Roberts, 89-80, on Thursday night inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
 
The Fighting Hawks drop to 4-17 overall and 1-7 in conference play as the Golden Eagles improve to 12-9 and 5-3.
 
Mackenzie Hughes led the offensive attack for UND with the most points by a Fighting Hawk this season at 24 points with five 3-pointers and four assists. Ava Miller joined her in double figures with 14 points—including 12 in the first quarter—as Walker Demers and Lauren Hillesheim each scored nine points. London Harris, Mataeya Mathern and Sydney Piekny all finished with eight points apiece to round out scoring Hawks. Additionally, Demers flirted with a double-double while leading the team with her nine rebounds and three blocks.
 
The Fighting Hawks went 29-of-65 from the floor, 12-of-36 from behind the arc and 10-of-15 from the free throw line while totaling 20 assists, 31 rebounds and forcing 15 ORU turnovers compared to its own 11.
 
North Dakota found success early, jumping out to a 9-5 lead off a free throw from Miller. The Golden Eagles tied things up at 11 apiece with 5:09 remaining before Hughes knocked down a crucial 3-pointer to regain control. Neither team would score again for almost three minutes, and when finally it happened, it was all UND.
 
The home team had soon scored seven straight points to take the 18-11 advantage, which—after back-to-back layups from Miller—soon translated into a 22-16 lead at the quarter break.
 
Oral Roberts scored the first four points of the second in an attempt to flip the momentum, but Miller single-handedly stopped the effort with a layup and 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions. Harris added in a strong driving layup for the 29-20 lead with 5:09 remaining before the visitors' 3-point-shooting began to fall. ORU slowly chipped away at the deficit and got it down to a one-point game with 26 seconds remaining, but Hughes sank a driving shot as time expired to maintain the 35-32 lead.
 
Again, it was Hughes who opened up the third quarter with another clean driving layup only to quickly be overshadowed by a dominating 22-1 run from the Golden Eagles. The home team now faced a 54-38 deficit but continued to battle.
 
Long-range shooting soon came in clutch for the Hawks, as Piekny, Hughes and Mathern teamed up to drain five 3-pointer over the next four minutes—including two in the final 45 seconds of the half—to keep the game within reach. Miller and Demers continued to work in the paint as the once-16-point deficit dropped to five with the score at 63-58 heading into the locker room.
 
Harris scored first to cap off a cumulative 9-0 run for UND and force a three-point game. And the battle was on. ORU scored seven straight to push the lead back to double digits until Hughes sunk another deep triple. It was a back-and-forth exchange of crowd-enticing baskets—highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers from Hillesheim—but the Golden Eagles kept control through strong free-throw shooting. And the effort would soon fall short for North Dakota, 89-80.
 
Post-Game Notes 

• Mackenzie Hughes' 24 points marks the highest point total by a Fighting Hawk this season
• It is the second 20+ performance by a Hawk this season
• North Dakota dropped in 30 points from the paint and found 16 points off the bench
• The team's total six blocks are a season-high
• UND's 80 points bests its previous season-high of 79 against Mayville State
• Oral Roberts (15) committed more turnovers than North Dakota (11)
• Thursday's game marked the fourth time this season that UND committed less turnovers than its opponent
• Oral Roberts held the 39-31 rebounding advantage

  
How It Happened 
Q1: North Dakota 22, Oral Roberts 16
Q2: North Dakota 35, Oral Roberts 32
Q3: North Dakota 58, Oral Roberts 63
Q4: North Dakota 80, Oral Roberts 89
 
Up Next
North Dakota continues its homestretch with a Saturday afternoon matinee conference rematch against Denver at 1 p.m. inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.

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