TOLEDO, Ohio ? In the opening game at the newly remodeled Savage Arena, North Dakota was held off by Toledo, 68-60, and suffered its fifth road loss of the season.
The Rockets had three players in double-figures to move to 3-5 on the season while UND dropped to a 3-5 record.
Down by as much as 23 points in the second half, the Sioux used 24 points off of the bench to pull within eight of the Rockets. Junior Alys Seay (G, Grand Forks, N.D.) garnered 15 points total off of the bench, Andrea LaFrance (G, Bismarck, N.D.) and Whitney Ledger (F, Bismarck, N.D.) added seven apiece, and Corey Lof (F, Detroit Lakes, Minn.) and Ashley Privratsky (G, Devils Lake, N.D.) combined for another three points.
Senior Kierah Kimbrough (F, Greenbush, Minn.) finished with a game-high 23 points, six blocked shots and nine rebounds. She was 7-for-11 in the second half.
“The style of the game in Division I is that you have to attack and if you rely on jump shots you are not going to be efficient,” said head coach Gene Roebuck. “Alys and Andrea both attack the basket, as well as, Kierah and Whitney inside.
“In the final minutes, they played together. You have to do that against a team because if you're just standing around, they are going to take the ball away from you. Our players today at the end were going to the basket.”
North Dakota and Toledo shot similarly from the field and bonus line, but the Rockets won at the three-point line out-shooting the Sioux, 31.3 percent to 10 percent. UND was held to just one three-pointer.
Much of UND's woes came from the 27 turnovers which resulted in 20 of Toledo's points.
Off to a slow start, the Sioux trailed 10-3 in the opening four minutes, but with a three-point shot by Jossy Bergan (G, Valley City, N.D.) and back-to-back baskets by Kimbrough the lead was cut down to two.
At 12:51, Kimbrough nailed her fourth basket of the game to give UND a 14-13 lead. The lead, however, was short-lived as Toledo fired back with a 10-2 run highlighted by scores by Jessica Williams and Tanika Mays from behind the arc.
To close out the half, the Rockets outscored the Sioux 11-5 to go into the locker room with a 34-21 lead. A major factor in the 13-point deficit was turnovers as 11 of UT's first half points were scored off of mishandlings by the Sioux.
Kimbrough opened the second half with an early basket, but the home team quickly regained control with a 12-2 run to take a 44-25 lead.
North Dakota kept pace with Toledo never letting the lead get to more than 23 points. With less than six minutes remaining, Seay hit back-to-back baskets to chip the lead down to 17 points, the smallest margin since early in the half.
A pair of free throws and two consecutive baskets by LaFrance with under five minutes remaining sparked an 11-0 run by the Sioux to pull within eight points of the Rockets, but it was as close as UND would get as the Rockets came away with the 68-60 victory.
“I thought our players played their rear ends off the last part of the game and really took it at them [the Rockets],” said Roebuck. “We had them on their heels.”
“Little by little we are adapting to this level of play, but it is also very hard to play on the road, play against decent teams, and come out with the win. The first thing is that you have to battle and you have to battle for 40 minutes.
“I thought we did battle today and I was extremely pleased by the play of those on the court at the end of the game because they fought and didn't let down. They were able to cut it down to single digits and that is a tribute to our players.”
The Fighting Sioux continue on their travels tomorrow when they head to Fayetteville, Ark. On Dec. 9, the Sioux take on the Arkansas Razorbacks for a 7 p.m. Tuesday evening tipoff at Bud Walton Arena.
- Go Sioux -
Game Notes: Today's game marked the first time the Sioux have ever faced the Toledo Rockets ... For the fourth game in a row and the seventh time this season, Kimbrough finished with double figures ... Kimbrough is now No. 9 in career field goals attempted.
