VERMILLION, N.D. - Led by a 24-point, 11-rebound (10 defensive) double-double by Amber Hegge the University of South Dakota picked up a 69-53 victory over North Dakota Saturday night at the DakotaDome. It marked the first loss in Vermillion for UND since falling 72-69 in the championship game of the 2008 North Central Conference playoffs.
With a 3-1 record, North Dakota and South Dakota are now in a three-way tie for second in the Great West Conference with NJIT. Chicago State leads with a 5-1 mark. The loss dropped the Sioux to 8-12 overall while the Coyotes advanced to 13-9.
South Dakota shot an impressive 5-for-7 from the field, including a perfect 4-for-4 performance at three-point range to open the game with a commanding 14-0 lead. Anne Roche started things off with a three-pointer at 19:16. Following a lay-up by Hegge, Alexis Yackley hit a pair of threes and Tempestt Wilson added one of her own.
"We dug ourselves a big hole early on and they came out and knocked down shots," said UND head coach Gene Roebuck. "We were able to get it back to within three points, but we sat back after that and let them dictate the offense."
Roche finished 5-for-7 from the field, including a trio of three-pointers for 13 points. Yackley was 4-for-13 from the field and 3-for-8 at three-point range for 11 points - nine of which came in the opening half and Wilson finished 3-for-3 beyond the arc for nine points.
Hegge led all players both in scoring and on the boards. She was the only player to nab double digit rebounds.
Trailing 14-0 with nearly five minutes off of the clock, junior guard Charnay Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.) found freshman center Allyssa Wall (North Sioux City, S.D.) open under the basket to notch UND's first points of the game, but Wilson and Yackley answered with another set of three's to give the Coyotes a 20-2 lead with 13:23 on the clock.
Charnay finished with four points, three rebounds and an assist. Wall came away with a career-high tying five blocks and nine points before being called for her fifth foul.
UND chipped away at the Coyote lead as senior forward Mallory Youngblut (Davenport, Iowa) started and capped a 9-0 run for the Sioux that would move the game to 20-11 with 8:56 remaining. Inside Youngblut's jumper and her first three of the game, Wall was found open under the basket first by classmate Madi Buck (F, Bismarck, N.D.) and then by junior guard Charnise Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz).
Youngblut led the Sioux with 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field, including a trio of three-pointers, and a perfect 3-for-3 performance at the line. She also added five rebounds (all defensive) and a blocked shot. Buck finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Charnise added seven points, four rebounds, and three assists.
The Coyotes moved back out to 16-point lead, but the Sioux managed to cut it back down to 10. With a last second layup by Roche, North Dakota went into the locker-room trailing South Dakota 37-25.
Back out of the break, Hegge helped USD pick up a 44-28 lead, but UND answered with a 16-3 run to cut the lead down to three points for the first time since 19:16 in the opening half. Inside the run, the Mothershed twins combined for seven points, Youngblut hit five, and Buck added the final four.
"We played them man-to-man and that seemed to get us back in the game," said Roebuck. "In order to claw your way out of a big deficit you really have to have tough kids. You have to be ready to go and really dig in deep on the defensive end. We just gave up too many easy shots."
Hegge responded with eight straight points, and with a layup by Stacia Robertson, USD led 57-44 with 8:22 remaining in the game.
Robertson finished with 10 points - six of which she scored in the second half.
The teams traded baskets through the ensuing four minutes, but with Hegge, Roche and Yackley still shooting strong, the Coyotes held out for the win.
North Dakota shot .396 (19-for-48) from the field, .294 (5-for-17) beyond the arc, and .667 (10-for-15) at the free throw line. Led by Buck, the Sioux scored 21 points off of the bench and 13 points were tallied off of turnovers.
South Dakota finished .481 (25-for-52) from the field, .476 (10-for-21) from three-point range - .583 (7-for-12) in the first half alone - and .563 (9-for-16) at the free throw line. Twenty-six points were tallied in the paint and 20 were scored off of UND's 19 turnovers.
The Fighting Sioux will remain on the road as they travel first to NJIT (Feb. 10) and then Chicago State (Feb. 12). The Sioux will return home to play a rescheduled game against Minot State on Feb. 15.
GAME NOTES: Mallory Youngblut is ranked 21st all-time at UND with 1,351 points. She is also tied at No. 5 with former teammate Jossy Bergan (2006-10) with 515 career three-point attempts and is 5th in career three-pointers made (201) ... Held to just nine points, Allyssa Wall's seven-game double figure scoring streak came to an end ... North Dakota leads the all-time series over South Dakota 48-22, including winning records in every location: UND leads 27-8 in Grand Forks, 19-14 in Vermillion and 3-0 on neutral ground ... Since the inaugural season of the Great West Conference (2008-09), UND has gone 15-2 against league foes and 28-36 against non-conference opponents. The only two conference losses have come at the hands of the Coyotes ... The University of North Dakota women's basketball program holds a 776-293 record all-time since the first game was played in 1974. Under head coach Gene Roebuck, UND is 600-129 ... All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 425-83 (.836) when it comes to defending their own court and are 330-39 (.893) under the tutelage of Gene Roebuck ... UND is 90-14 (.861) all-time at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, which opened prior to the 2004-05 season.
- Go Sioux -
