GRAND FORKS, N.D. - A seven-point play midway through the fourth quarter turned the tables as host North Dakota downed Weber State, 83-67, at Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Big Sky Conference action. Senior Makailah Dyer hit four technical free throws in that stretch en route to a career-high 30 points in the win.
UND led by three with 5:45 left until Leah Szabla drove the lane, scored and got fouled to ignite the crowd. Tyschal Blake was whistled for her fifth personal on the play and WSU did not substitute her in the allotted 15 seconds to earn a technical foul. Weber head coach Bethann Ord picked up her second technical a few seconds later while arguing with the officials and North Dakota got four free throws out of the deal. Dyer's four makes and Szabla's and-one stretched the lead to 10 and effectively took out all of the life of a Wildcat team that was aiming for its third straight win at the Betty.
The game was tight until that point as the lead changed hands 13 times and there were seven tie scores. Weber State got three triples from reserve Dominique Williams in the first quarter to get out to a 21-16 advantage and took a modest three-point lead into halftime. In the third, a 9-1 Fighting Hawks spurt helped get UND in front, 46-43.
WSU's (12-13, 6-8) Deeshyra Thomas scored two of her team-high 21 to inch within one at 57-56, but she was just 3-for-9 at the free-throw line to help UND maintain a slim lead.
With just under six minutes to go UND worked on putting the game away. Samantha Roscoe corralled a missed three and got it upcourt quickly to Szabla, who raced past the defense and finished at the rim while being fouled. That was Blake's fifth personal to set in motion a crazy sequence that gave UND seven points without the clock moving.
The lead was now in double figures and UND's stranglehold never loosened. Klabo had the next four North Dakota points with North Dakota defeating Weber State by more than seven points for the first time in the last five meetings.
North Dakota (18-8, 13-2) will host Northern Colorado next Saturday in the home finale. Northern Colorado is one game back of UND, who now sits alone atop the Big Sky Conference. Tip is set for 2:00 p.m.
Notes: UND has now out-shot its opponent from the three-point line (by percentage) in eight straight games ... North Dakota is 8-2 all-time against Weber State ... Dyer moved into 13th place on the school's scoring list (1,395), passing past former teammate Mia Loyd (1,384) and Durene Heisler (1,385) ... Marisa Leighton is next on the list at 1,499 ... Saturday was Dyer's 18th career 20-point game ... It marked the first 30-point game by a UND player since Madi Buck scored 37 in a win over North Dakota State (12/14/13) ... Senior Leah Szabla is 31 points shy of 1,000 in her career ... With two weeks to play, UND needs just one win or an Idaho loss over the last four games to earn a first-round bye in the Big Sky Tournament (top four seed) ... UND is 6-6 when trailing at halftime this season, including both wins this week.
