KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Clutch shooting, strong defense and high-scoring performances combined to give North Dakota a convincing 68-58 team win on the road over Kansas City on Saturday afternoon.
 
The victory moves UND to 7-18 overall and 3-8 in conference play while the Roos drop to 7-17 and 4-7.
 
Three Fighting Hawks finished in double figures, led by the duo of Mackenzie Hughes and Sydney Piekny, who each scored 18 points apiece. Hughes went 9-of-10 from the free throw line and added in nine assists to flirt with a double-double during her 40 minutes on the court while Piekny went 7-of-10 from the floor with four 3-pointers to reach her new career high.
 
Ava Miller joined them in the double figure fiesta with her 10-point, 14-rebound double-double as Skyler Volmer followed close behind with nine points. Piekny and Mathern—who earned her first career start in the afternoon matinee—each tallied two steals to lead UND.
 
North Dakota shot a steady 22-of-44 (50-percent) from the floor, 9-of-23 (39.1-percent) from behind the arc and 15-of-17 (88.2-percent) from the free throw line to facilitate the victory. UND also held the rebounding advantage (37-32) while totaling 14 assists and seven steals.
 
Back-to-back smooth passes from Hughes opened up a 4-2 lead for the Hawks that soon crumbled into an 8-4 deficit. The visitors responded in dominant fashion with three straight triples on three straight possessions to jump ahead at 13-8 with 3:57 remaining. A pair of Kansas City jumpers tightened the game but a pair of Volmer free throws maintained the five-point lead to end the first quarter, 15-10.
 
Action tied up at 16-all two minutes into the period and it would do so four more times over the course of the second quarter. Miller knocked down a pair of buckets in the paint as Hughes and Piekny each scored on driving layups for the 24-22 advantage. The Roos scored the next six points for the 28-24 lead until a pair of 3-pointers from the Fighting Hawks gave UND control, 30-28, heading into the locker room.
 
The battle continued in the third quarter as a floating jump shot from Volmer off the inbounds and another bucket from Miller pushed the lead to five just under two minutes in. Another tie hit the scoreboard at 37-37 halfway through and quickly culminated into a 12-3 run from the home team. Hillesheim and Hughes teamed up to tie things at 41-all and it was a 3-pointer from Mikayla Aumer that once again gave UND the lead.
 
After a bucket at the buzzer from Hughes made it a 46-43 game heading into the fourth quarter, North Dakota went to work. Seven straight points from the Hawks opened up a 53-44 lead after Volmer was left wide open from behind the arc but the Roos clawed back to force a two-point spread with 4:24 remaining.
 
That's when the strong free-throw shooting from the Fighting Hawks came in clutch. North Dakota closed the fourth quarter on a three-and-a-half-minute, 13-2 run that saw a perfect 8-of-8 showing from the charity stripe. Another triple from Piekny and a bucket from Mathern in the final possession all but sealed the unrelenting 68-58 road win for UND.
 
Post-Game Notes 

• Three Fighting Hawks finished in double figures
• Sydney Piekny scored a career-high 18 points with four 3-pointers
• Mackenzie Hughes nearly had a points-assists double-double with her 18 points and nine assists
• Ava Miller collected her second-straight double-double with 10 points and a team-high 14 rebounds
• Saturday marked UND's first road win this season
• It also was the second-ever win on the road in Kansas City in program history
• 30 of the Hawks' 37 rebounds came on the defensive end
• North Dakota now leads the all-time series against the Roos, 6-5

  
How It Happened 
Q1: North Dakota 15, Kansas City 12
Q2: North Dakota 30, Kansas City 28
Q3: North Dakota 46, Kansas City 43
Q4: North Dakota 68, Kansas City 58
 
Up Next
North Dakota's road stretch will come to a close in Brookings, S.D., as the Fighting Hawks are set to face South Dakota State on Thursday, February 12 at 7 p.m. inside First Bank & Trust Arena.

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