GRAND FORKS, N.D.-- The University of North Dakota battled through a second-half field goal drought to earn a hard-fought 59-52 win over Montana in a rematch of the Big Sky Conference Tournament championship Saturday afternoon at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. UND led by 15 in the second stanza but withstood a Lady Griz barrage that saw the visitors reclaim the lead in the final minutes.

A Siri Burck three, UND's only triple of the contest, gave North Dakota a seemingly comfortable 42-27 advantage just over five minutes into the second half. But, the Lady Griz responded by holding UND without a field goal for more than seven minutes and went on an 18-3 run to tie score at 45 with six minutes remaining.

After a Mia Loyd jumper, Shanae Gilham tripled to give Montana its first lead of the second half. The lead changed hands three more times over the next two minutes until Leah Szabla's layup pushed North Dakota in front 51-50 with 3:48 left.

Montana (8-5, 1-1) mustered just one more field goal the rest of the way and UND iced the game with a jumper by Loyd and six free throws, four from Szabla in the final 28 seconds.

North Dakota had a nine-point lead at the intermission, holding the Lady Griz to just 28.6 shooting in the opening stanza. After making three of its first five shots from the floor, UM went 7-of-30 (.233) the rest of the half as North Dakota ended the frame on a 12-4 run.
 
Szabla led the way for UND, scoring 13 points to go along with four steals and three assists without a turnover. Loyd recorded her sixth straight double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds while senior Emily Evers added nine points and 13 rebounds.

Montana was paced by 16 points from Kellie Cole Rubel to complement her six rebounds, five assists and five steals. McCalle Feller hit a pair of first-half threes in the early going en route to 10 points.

North Dakota (10-4, 2-0) will embark on a three-game road swing that starts Thursday at Sacramento State.