OGDEN, Utah-- Host Weber State rallied back from down 18 and took a fourth-quarter lead but North Dakota held on for its ninth straight Big Sky Conference road win with a 70-65 victory Thursday evening at Dee Events Center. Makailah Dyer's three with just under three minutes to go put the brakes on a 16-0 Wildcat run to give UND the lead for good.
Sophomore Fallyn Freije had 14 first-half points en route to a career-best 21 points for North Dakota. Classmate Lexi Klabo registered her fifth career double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
"Another tight one, we have to continue to try to find ways to close out games," UND head coach Travis Brewster said. "We're in control of two things-- our effort and our attitude. If we take care of those, the rest will fall into place. I thought we got good play out of Freije and Klabo. Fallyn got us off to good start. Dyer did a good job of helping us close the game out down the stretch."
North Dakota (11-7, 6-1) raced out to a 10-1 lead in the first quarter, holding the Wildcats without a field goal until four-and-a-half minutes into the game. UND would hold a 21-11 edge through the first quarter and would stretch its advantage to as many as 18 in the second quarter. WSU (8-9, 2-4) immediately responded with a quick 10-0 spurt to whittle it back to single digits.
UND held a 39-30 lead at halftime, owning the edge in nearly every statistical category. As in years past in this building, this win would not come easy. North Dakota had a seeimgly comfortable 62-47 lead with under seven minutes to go until the Wildcats went on a crazy run. Kailie Quinn scored in transition followed by back-to-back threes to quickly make it a seven-point game, the closest it had been since the opening minutes. Another layup, two free throws, then a lay-in by Yarden Danan helped WSU take its first lead of the night at 63-62 with just over three minutes remaining.
On the ensuing Fighting Hawk trip, Dyer calmly tripled from the left wing to end the furious rally and boost her team back in front. She would make three free throws over the next next two minutes as the lead built to five. After Freije split a pair from the charity stripe, Quinn was fouled on a three to give her three freebies and a chance at a one-possession game with 10 seconds to go. She missed the final one, however, and North Dakota escaped with the win.
Three players were in double figures for UND as Freije (21), Klabo (17) and Dyer (15) paced the offense.
Quinn was the Wildcats' leading scorer with 16 while Emily added 11.
North Dakota remains a game back in the league standings as it heads to Idaho State Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. tipoff.
Notes: UND improved to 5-0 all-time at the Dee Events Center with the average margin of victory at just over five points ... Four of the five games have either been decided by five points or fewer or have gone to overtime ... Senior Leah Szabla played her first minutes since Dec. 13 ... Freije becomes the sixth active UND player to score 20 points in a game and the fifth to do so this season (Klabo, Szabla, Jill Morton, Dyer) ... Dyer (17th, 1271 points) is 35 points shy of assistant coach Mallory Bernhard (Youngblut) in the school's all-time scoring list ... Thursday's win was the 80th of head coach Travis Brewster career and seventh against Weber State, most against any school .. Five of UND's seven Big Sky Conference games this season have been decided by five points or less (4-1).
