GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Led by senior Alys Seay (G, Grand Forks, N.D.) and freshman Nicole Smart (G, Ada, Minn.) the University of North Dakota women's basketball team captured its 26th-consecutive win over Mayville State in front of a Betty Engelstad Sioux Center crowd of 1,547.
Both players finished with 15 points apiece. Seay three shy of her personal best and Smart with a career high and her first collegiate double figure game.
North Dakota (2-6) forced the Comets (3-7) to commit 30 turnovers and turned those mishandlings into 28 points. UND also registered a season-high 20 steals, including a career-tying seven steals from point guard Jossy Bergan (Valley City, N.D.).
Along with the double-digit finishes from Seay and Smart, senior Kayla Bagaason (G, Clearbrook, Minn.) pitched in 11 points and junior Corey Lof (Detroit Lakes, Minn.) set a new career-record with 10 points.
The Comets were led by Erin Ericson who shot 6-for-13 from the field for 18 points and Kelsey Adamsen scored 11 points on 3-for-5 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 performance at the free throw line.
Mayville State countered every basket the Fighting Sioux dropped in the opening three minutes until Smart capped a 15-2 run for UND with a three-pointer to give it a 20-7 lead at 10:36 in the first half.
The Comets cut the lead down to nine points with a basket by Ericson and a pair of free throws by Laura Taylor, but the Sioux answered and with another basket by Smart they took a 15-point lead.
UND maintained enough of an edge over Mayville State to take a 36-23 lead into the break.
On the other side of the break, the Fighting Sioux took its biggest lead thus far as Bagaason drained a three-pointer to give UND a 16-point advantage. The Sioux continued to pull away from the Comets, holding them without a field goal until 11:36.
Trailing 57-29 Mayville scored five unanswered points but the Sioux quickly countered with an 8-0 run to take a 30-point lead heading into the final six minutes of the game. The Comets chipped slightly at the board, but with strong shooting around the perimeter, the Fighting Sioux held off Mayville State to win its first game of the season at home.
Up next for North Dakota is a trip to Arizona to take on Arizona State. The Fighting Sioux and the Sun Devils tipoff in Tempe, Ariz., at Noon at the Wells Fargo Arena.
GAME NOTES: With a basket at 17:41 to start the ballgame, Jossy Bergan sank her 125th career three-pointer ... Up until Danielle Guilbert's free throw at 8:28 in the first half, Erin Ericson had scored all nine points for Mayville State.
- Go Sioux -
