VERMILLION, S.D. - It's never an easy game when North Dakota and South Dakota meet on the court and Saturday's game was nowhere close to easy. In a game that registered only four lead changes and just one double-figure advantage, the Fighting Sioux battled their way to a 54-51 win over USD in front of a crowd of 2,135 at the DakotaDome.
UND controlled the majority of the game, but South Dakota's Annie Roche sank a three-pointer at 3:47 to pull the Coyotes to within 50-47 of the Sioux. Both teams missed from all over the field through the ensuing three minutes until Mallory Youngblut (Jr., G, Davenport, Iowa) broke the silence as she drove the lane and sank the bucket to push the UND advantage back to 52-47 with 1:05 on the clock.
Thirty seconds later Jasmine Mosley answered from the block to cut the UND lead to 52-49. With time running short, Jossy Bergan (Sr., G, Valley City, N.D.) was fouled and sent to the line, but was unable to find the inside of the basket. Following a quick USD timeout, Amber Hegge cut the lead to 52-51 as she grabbed her own rebound and then kissed it off of the glass for the score.
Trying to regain possession, the Coyotes fouled Kayla Bagaason (Sr.,G, Clearbrook, Minn.) on the inbounds, but the plan worked to UND's advantage as Bagaason sank both from the charity stripe to give the Sioux a 54-51 lead with two seconds left.
North Dakota looked to seal the deal as Bagaason stepped in front of the inbounds pass, but in the midst of celebration she took a step and was called for traveling. The lapse had no effect on the outcome as both Youngblut and Bagaason both stepped in the way of the ensuing inbounds pass to give North Dakota its second-consecutive Great West Conference victory.
The win was UND's third in a row and moved the Fighting Sioux to 6-12, 2-0 GWC. The loss dropped South Dakota to 6-7 and left it winless (0-1) in the conference.
A trio of Sioux players finished in double-digits with Bagaason pacing UND with 17 points on 3-for-5 shooting from behind the arc and a 2-for-2 performance at the free throw line. Youngblut came away with 12 points - all in the second half - shooting 2-for-2 behind the three-point line and at the free throw line. Senior Whitney Ledger (F, Bismarck, N.D.) rounded out the top for the Sioux with 10 points and for her sixth double-figure game this season.
Senior Alys Seay (G, Grand Forks, N.D.) added another eight points, three rebounds, and two steals from the bench.
"Alys is the type of player that you always know what you are going to get from her," Roebuck said. "You are going to get penetration to the basket. "She is our strongest and most athletic player.
"Kayla really came out and shot the ball well in the first half. She struggle a bit in the second half, but let's put it this way, she made those free throws at the end."
The Coyotes were led by Roche who scored 19 points - 15 of those from behind the three-point line. Abby Kinder followed with nine points. Mosley and Hegge were held to just seven points apiece.
UND out-shot USD in all areas and scored nine points on USD turnovers.
"They aren't great three-point shooters, but they are good enough to make the three," Roebuck said. "What they are really good at is dribble penetration. That's the one thing that we took away from them. We made them shoot the ball."
North Dakota and South Dakota will resume the on-court rivalry on Saturday, Jan. 23 as the Fighting Sioux host the Coyotes in 'Meltdown at the Ralph'. Rather than hit the floor in the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center as usual, the two teams will match-up on a specially-constructed floor in the Ralph Engelstad Arena. Gametime is slated for 5 p.m. in the REA.
North Dakota led by as much as five points in the opening ten minutes until a three-pointer by Roche knotted the game at 9-9. Seconds later Kinder followed with another USD three-pointer to give the Coyotes their first lead of the game.
South Dakota held off its northern rivals through the ensuing four minutes and with 6:03 on the clock led the Fighting Sioux 21-15. The basket would prove to be the Coyotes' final of the half as UND went on a 14-0 run to end the half with a 29-21 lead. Highlighting the run was consecutive three-pointers by Lof and Bagaason and a strong Sioux defensive showing that caused a Coyote shotclock violation with 2.5 ticks left in the half.
UND took its biggest lead of the game - an 11-point advantage - as Bagaason nailed her second three-pointer of the game just 51 seconds into the new stanza. Iverson and Kinder answered with three-pointers of their own and with a basket from Mosely at 17:08, USD moved to within three points of the Sioux.
UND worked its way back into an eight-point lead, but South Dakota continued to fight. Persistence paid off as USD pulled within just one point of the Sioux at 7:38 thanks to a pair of free throws by Roche.
Just as the Coyotes looked to take over the lead, Seay drove the lane for her fourth field goal of the evening. Youngblut followed with a basket beyond the arc to push the Sioux back out to a 50-44 lead.
What followed was a hard-nosed three minutes that ended with the Fighting Sioux grabbing their second-consecutive Great West Conference victory.
GAME NOTES: Kayla Bagaason is now tied with Tracey Pudenz (1991-94) at the No. 8 spot in career three-pointers made with 147. She is just North Dakota leads the series against South Dakota 46-20 since 1977 ... North Dakota now holds an NCAA Division I transition record of 24-23 ... Since the move the Sioux are 8-4 in the month of January and 6-3 when playing on a Saturday ... UND is 7-3 overall, 4-1 at home, and 3-2 on the road when playing on Jan. 16 ... The Fighting Sioux are 757-280 all-time and 581-116 under head coach Gene Roebuck.
- Go Sioux -
