BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - In its first ever game against a Sun Belt Conference opponent, the University of North Dakota dropped a tough 71-46 ballgame to Western Kentucky in front of an E.A. Diddle Arena crowd of 1,033.
The teams stayed together through the opening seven minutes of the first half, but shortly after the Sioux (1-6) gained their first and only lead of the game, the Lady Toppers (4-2) went on a big 30-6 run taking them into the break with a 39-15 advantage. The WKU lead was too much to overcome as UND fell to its third-straight opponent.
Senior captain Kayla Bagaason (G, Clearbrook, Minn.), playing in her 100th career game for UND, led the Sioux with 11 points, including five baskets from the charity stripe. Freshman Carly Rothfusz (G, Eden Prairie, Minn.) came away with a career-high eight points and seniors Whitney Ledger (F, Bismarck, N.D.) and Alys Seay (G, Grand Forks, N.D.) ended with seven points apiece.
North Dakota shot .633 (19-for-30) from the free throw line and struggled elsewhere shooting .208 (11-for-53) from the field and .278 (5-for-18) from beyond the three-point line. The Sioux made just four field goals in the opening half.
The Lady Toppers were led by Lashay Davis who scored 16 points, 12 from beyond the three-point line. She went 2-for-2 from the free charity stripe to help WKU to a .688 (11-for-16) shooting percentage. The team finished .394 (26-for-66) from the field and .400 (8-for-20) from behind the arc.
Western Kentucky scored 25 points on UND turnovers and 23 points off of second chances. Forty-six of its 71 points came from off of the bench, while the Sioux nonstarters scored 17 points.
Western Kentucky jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but with a quick 5-0 run the Sioux knotted the game at 7-7. Sixty seconds later, UND took a 10-9 lead as senior Jossy Bergan (G, Valley City, N.D.) drilled a baseline three-pointer.
Courtney Clifton regained the lead for the Lady Toppers with a transition basket at 13:02 and jumpstarted a big WKU run that lasted until the break. Through the final 13 minutes of the half, Western Kentucky out-scored the Sioux 30-6 and held them scoreless from the field.
Back out of the break, Dominique Duck hit first to give WKU its biggest lead thus far, a 26-point advantage. Bagaason followed with her first three-pointer of the game and the first field goal for the Sioux since Bergan hit from behind the arc at 13:21 in the first half.
UND out-scored the Lady Toppers much of the second half, with the help of five shots from behind the arc, but it wasn't enough to erase the over 20-point deficit.
The Fighting Sioux will return to their home court on Monday, Dec. 7 when they take on Mayville State. Tipoff between UND and the Comets is slated for 7 p.m. at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
GAME NOTES: Tonight contest marked the 100th career game for senior captain Kayla Bagaason (G, Clearbrook, Minn.) ... Senior captain Whitney Ledger (F, Bismarck, N.D.) grabbed her 400th career rebound in the first half ... Western Kentucky is the first Sun Belt Conference opponent for the Fighting Sioux. The Sioux played Denver twice on Dec. 7 - once in 1987 (W, 78-73) and once in 1988 (W, 94-53) - but that was before the Pioneers joined the league in 1999 ... Spotted in the crowd was former North Dakota men's and women's swimming and diving coach Mavi Sampiao and former Grand Forks Central High School girls basketball coach Jean Roise ... Miscellaneous records since the transition to NCAA Division I - On the road: 5-12; Games following a loss: 8-9; Playing on a Wednesday: 1-3; Playing in December: 4-5; Playing against DI opponents: 14-16.
- Go Sioux -
