GRAND FORKS, N.D. ? In its highest scoring game of the 2008-09 season, the Fighting Sioux women's basketball team overpowered visiting Mayville State, 111-27, and captured their 26th-consecutive win over the Comets in front of a crowd of 1,754 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
North Dakota finished with five players in double-figure territory ? a high for the season. Senior Kierah Kimbrough (F, Greenbush, Minn.) led the way with 25 points, 15 in the first half. She was also pivotal on the boards with a game-high nine rebounds and tallied three blocks.
Senior Danye Guinn (G, St. Francis, Minn.), junior Alys Seay (G, Grand Forks, N.D.), sophomore Mallory Youngblut (G, Davenport, Iowa), and junior Jossy Bergan (G, Valley City, N.D.) fell behind Kimbrough one-by-one with scores of 15, 14, 13, and 12, respectively.
To highlight those four players, Guinn was 6-for-6 at the bonus line and tied her personal-best eight assists, Seay shot 7-for-9 from the field, and Youngblut was 3-for-4 from behind the arc. Six of Bergan's points came from half court steals turned layup.
Overall, the Sioux (4-6) made three more baskets than Mayville (3-11) attempted and held the Comets to just five field goals. In the first half, UND set a new school-record as it allowed Mayville to score a mere 11 points. The only Comet field goal of the opening half dropped in 30 seconds into the game.
“We did a nice job of getting up and down the court,” said head coach Gene Roebuck. “We really took Mayville out of it by not letting them get good looks at the basket ... That's what we should be doing. We played up to the level we should be at.”
For the most part, the Sioux went on two big runs broken up by the halftime buzzer. The 60-11 first half lead and the 51-16 advantage were the best of the season thus far. The 84-point margin of victory was a season-high as well.
“In the second half we kept up the intensity and tried to work on some things,” Roebuck said. “We were able to get a lot of players in ... [Kirstie] Gillette got in and she scored ... We were able to get minutes to those players who work their rear ends off during practice.
The Sioux shot a season-high 3-for-71 (.606) from the field and were 6-for-12 (.505) from three-point range. UND was well-off from the bonus line as it went 19-for-26 (.731).
The Comets finished 5-for-40 (.125) from the field, 3-for-17 (.176) behind the arc, and 14-for-22 (.636) from the free throw line.
Only three players from the Comet lineup scored via field goal. The top scorer, Kasey Adamsen, finished with eight points and one shot from the field. Ali Sonstelie and Erin Ericson both had a pair of field goals and came away with four and six points, respectively.
“I think they [Mayville State] played hard for 40 minutes, but we just came out stronger and quicker. That was the difference of the game.”
Not only do the Sioux continue to hold an unblemished record against Mayville State, but they have yet to fall on their home court this season.
North Dakota will have another crack at keeping the Betty record clean this Saturday when it hosts Seattle Pacific for a 1 p.m. tipoff.
- Go Sioux -
Game Notes: Kimbrough scored over 20 points for the 26th time in her career, she is No. 7 all-time in scoring (1,641) and tied for No. 8 in career rebounds (771) ... Guinn is listed No. 6 all-time in three-pointers (155) and No. 9 in three-point attempts (418) ... Ashley Privratsky (G, Devils Lake, N.D.) scored a career-high nine points with a personal-best two three-pointers ... Kirstie Gillett (F, Tolna, N.D.) scored her first points as a Sioux and finished with six points ... The last time the Sioux held a 4-6 record was 4-6 was during the 1986-87 season ... Nearly half of UND's points (50) were scored off of the bench ... Thirty-five points were scored off of turnovers ... Twenty-one points were tallied off of second chances.
