GRAND FORKS, N.D. - With 21 points from Kristin Turk, Drake picked up its fourth straight win of the season and its third consecutive win over the University of North Dakota as the Bulldogs defeated the Fighting Sioux 76-51 in front of a Betty Engelstad Sioux Center crowd of 1,627.
"Drake is a good basketball team. They shot well from three-point range and exploited our weaknesses," said UND head coach Gene Roebuck. "We need to get better. We are a young team and I would say that we are in a definite rebuilding year."
As was the storyline last year, four players in double figures led Drake (5-2) past UND (1-5) and three of those players did it again this year. In 2009, Monique Jones and Rachael Hackbarth finished with 14 points apiece followed by Turk with 13 and Amber Wollschlager with 11. In today's game, Turk was the lone player to finish with more than 20 points and Hackbarth and Wollschlager tallied 10 and 15 points, respectively. Angela Christianson rounded out the four-pack with 17 points.
The Bulldogs finished 25-for-57 (.439) from the field and 16-for-18 (.889) at the free throw line. They also held a slight 40 to 31 rebounding average over the Sioux and turned UND's 25 turnovers into 29 points.
"Some of our younger players really stepped up today," said Roebuck. "Carly Rothfusz had a nice game on the offensive end. Charnise and Charnay played one of their better games and played well on the defensive end.
"On a positive note, we caused 25 turnovers, so we had to be working hard on defense to do that."
The Sioux also took advantage of DU's mishandlings as 20 points were tallied off of Drake's 25 turnovers. Aiding UND in forcing the loose ball was a career-high eight steals from junior Charnay Mothershed (G, Phoenix, Airz.), who also boasted a personal-best six assists.
Sophomore Carly Rothfusz (F, Eden Prairie, Minn.) had a career day off of the bench with 11 points via 4-for 6 shooting, including a 3-for-4 showing at three-point range. As a whole the UND reserves accounted for 32 points - over half of UND's point total.
The Fighting Sioux were led overall by 12 points from freshman center Allyssa Wall (North Sioux City, S.D.), who tallied her third career game in double digits.
UND struggled from all areas to finish .345 (19-for-55) from the field, .250 (5-for-20) at three-point range, and .500 (8-for-16) at the charity stripe.
"I saw some good things today," said Roebuck. "Some of our freshman made plays and that's what we needed. The future is definitely bright, but we have to live in the present."
Straightaway, the Bulldogs gained control of the game moving into a 4-12 lead just four and a half minutes in. During that time, the Sioux were held to just one field goal, a layup by freshman Madi Buck (Bismarck, N.D.) at 15:44. As the game progressed, nearly every UND basket was answered by a pair on the other end. By the half, UND trailed Drake 44-25.
Inside the new half, neither team could get a shot to drop as the only bucket of the first 4:52 was a free throw by UND forward Corey Lof (Detroit Lakes, Minn.).
The Sioux remained within 20 points of the Bulldogs through to the seven-minute mark, but then Christianson, Turk, and Alyssa Marschner combined for 12 points from three-point range to swell the lead to 29-points - the largest DU advantage of the afternoon. Continuing to hold off the Sioux, Drake extended its series lead to 3-1.
North Dakota will hit the road again next week as it travels to Lawrence, Kan., to face Kansas State for the first time in program history. The Sioux will remain on the road for the remainder of the month as they take on Northern Iowa (Dec. 18), Creighton (Dec. 20) and both Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Dec. 28) and Montana (Dec. 29) at the Montana Lady Griz Tournament.
GAME NOTES: Today's game marks the first time North Dakota and Drake have squared away in Grand Forks, N.D. ... The series opened between the University of North Dakota and Drake on Jan. 25, 1976 with the Fighting Sioux taking a 59-54 victory in Des Moines, Iowa. Drake leads the all-time series 3-1 ... In all six games this season, the University of North Dakota has been led by a freshman in double figures ... The University of North Dakota women's basketball program holds a 769-286 (.729) record all-time since the first game was played in 1974. Under head coach Gene Roebuck, UND is 593-122 (.829) ... All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 419-83 (.835) when it comes to defending their own court and are 323-39 (.892) under the tutelage of Gene Roebuck ... UND is 85-14 (.859) all-time at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, which opened prior to the 2004-05 season.
- Go Sioux -
