#6 NORTH DAKOTA vs. #3 DENVER
DATE:  Sunday, Mar. 10 | 2:30 PM CT
SITE:  Sioux Falls, S.D. (Denny Sanford PREMIER Center)
TV: Midco Sports Network
RADIO:  100.3 FM, 740 AM (Jack Michaels)
WEB VIDEO: ESPN +
LIVE STATS:  the summitleague.org
TWITTER: @UNDWBasketball

SEMIFINALS
vs. either #4 Oral Roberts/#5 Western Illinois
DATE:  Monday, March 11 | 2:30 PM CT

CHAMPIONSHIP
DATE:  Tuesday, March 12 | 1:00 PM CT
TV: ESPNU

QUICK JUMPERS
*North Dakota is aiming for a league title in a fourth different conference. (NCC- 13, Great West- 2, Big Sky- 2).
*Both Faith Dooley and Lexi Klabo pulled down 10+ rebounds for UND against Denver on Feb. 24 as the team recorded a season-best 59 boards.
*Lexi Klabo is fourth in the NCAA in FTs made (174) and is UND's career leader (523).
*Only four active NCAA Division I players in the country currently have 500 made free throws.
*Only four active NCAA Division I players in the country currently have 500 made free throws.
*Klabo registered her third 30-point game of the season against Denver. She is the first UND player since Ashley Langen (2004-08) to score 30+ points four times in a career.
*Klabo (1,608 points) is 10th all-time in scoring at UND and is just 14 points shy of moving past the Pudenz sisters (Jaime- 1,614), Tiffany (1,622) on the all-time scoring list. 

ON TAP
North Dakota has earned the six-seed and a first-round date with Denver Sunday in the quarterfinal round of The Summit League Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D. UND is in its first season in the Summit and comes into the tournament with wins over four of the teams in contention.

LAST ACTION
North Dakota and host South Dakota combined for 58 fouls and 46 turnovers in an 87-54 Coyote victory in regular season's finale in Vermillion, S.D.

Lexi Klabo closed the night with 13 points while Jaclyn Jarnot also contributed 10 points. Alaina Jarnot dished a game-high four assists, including two to her sister Jaclyn on a pair three-pointers. North Dakota scored 20 points off Yotes turnovers.

THE SERIES WITH DENVER
UND dropped both regular season games against the Pioneers but had DU on the ropes in the Feb. 23 home final. Denver forced overtime with a buzzer-beating three-pointer and eventually stole the win in the extra frame. 
All-time vs. Denver
Tied, 2-2
Home: 1-1, Away: 1-1, Neutral: 0-0
12/7/87    W     78-73 (A)
12/7/88     W     94-53 (H)
1/5/19    L    66-87 (A)
2/23/19    L    (ot) 91-92 (H)

THE LAST MEETING IN BRIEF
Trailing by 18 points with 8:31 left in the third quarter, the UND women's basketball team took a three-point lead with 19.6 seconds left. However, a shot at the buzzer by Denver's Haley Simental forced overtime and kept momentum in the Pioneers corner as they defeated the Fighting Hawks, 92-91, Feb. 23 in UND's home finale.

The UND seniors were its star contributors as Lexi Klabo finished with a career-high 33 points with 11 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season and Melissa Dailey added 14 points. Faith Dooley grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds as the Hawks registered a season-high 58 boards.

KLABO NAMED ALL-SUMMIT
North Dakota senior Lexi Klabo was named to the All-Summit League First Team announced Thursday by league officials. Klabo led the conference in scoring (18.5 ppg) and was second in rebounding (8.3 rpg) and blocked shots (1.57 bpg). Klabo scored in double figures in all but two games this season and tallied up eight double-doubles, four in league play alone.  She is now a three-time all-conference honoree (2018 Big Sky First Team, 2017 Big Sky Second Team). 

WHAT A MONTH!
Lexi Klabo's exploits have been well documented this season: new season-highs, a UND top-10 scoring mark, as well as new program records in free throws made and the NCAA's leader at the line for most of the season. However, her play in February has been a testament to Klabo's abilities as she has averaged 21.8 points and 8.8 rebounds in six games last month, despite facing constant double and triple teams. She scored in double figures five times and accounted for at least 20 in four games. The Fargo, N.D., native accounted for a career-high 33 points versus Denver last time out. Most impressively, Klabo has done this kind of damage averaging just over 30 minutes per game (30.3).

SO CLOSE!
North Dakota was a mere seven seconds away from its largest comeback of the season at last dead ball versus Denver in their last meeting. With the ball in play and just seconds left, DU forward Madison Nelson quickly kicked the ball from the key back out to Haley Simental - stepping onto the floor in place of fouled out guard Lauren Loven - who drained a deep three at the buzzer to force overtime. UND trailed by 18 points in the third quarter and outscored the Pioneers 43-31 in the second half, holding them to 10 points in the final period. The Fighting Hawks overcame double-digit deficits versus San Francisco (13) and Omaha (12) this season.

THE BIG EFFORTS IN FINALE AT THE BETTY
It was a team effort against Denver as several players set new career-highs. While Lexi Klabo set a high in points (33), Faith Dooley crashed 10 boards for the first time in her career while finishing just three points shy of her first double-double. Melissa Dailey filled the stat sheet with 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. On the glass, six players pulled down six-or-more rebounds.

FLEECS' SOFT TOUCH
Finishing with 15 points and six boards against the Pioneers, Julia Fleecs' efforts were a large part of the Fighting Hawks comeback effort. The sophomore scored nine points in the second half, adding her final basket with 1:30 left in regulation that lifted UND to within one point, 75-74, and forced Denver to burn a timeout.

KLABO AMONGST NATION'S BEST FORWARDS
On Feb. 13, senior Lexi Klabo was named one of the top-10 finalists for the Cheryl Miller Award, given annually to one of the nation's top forwards. As the only mid-major player on the list, Klabo stacks up with the competition, ranking third in points (19.1) and second rebounds (8.4). She's only one of two players averaging 18 points and eight rebounds. She is the only player from a mid-major school listed in the final 10. 

Listed alphabetically by school, here is the Top-10 list as selected by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association with points and rebounds per game averages included.

Player    School    PPG    RPG
Bridget Carleton *        Iowa St.        21.9      8.7
Rhyne Howard        Kentucky        16.0        6.7
Erika Davenport        Marquette        15.2        8.0
Kaila Charles        Maryland         16.5        6.6
Sophie Cunningham     Missouri        17.3        6.2
Lexi Klabo *         North Dakota        18.5       8.3
Jackie Young         Notre Dame        14.3        7.0
Satou Sabally        Oregon        17.2        5.9
Rennia Davis        Tennessee        14.6        7.9
Borislava Hristova        Washington St.         20.2      5.6
* - Indicates leading scorer in conference

ATTACKING THE GLASS
In 18 of its final 20 games, North Dakota has outrebounded its foes on the glass. UND corralled a season-high 59 boards versus Denver, finishing +12 to the Pioneers 47. The Fighting Hawks out-boarded Purdue Ft. Wayne on Feb. 28 by double figures (+14), the sixth time this season that UND has held the edge on the glass by double digits.

THE 500 CLUB
Lexi Klabo went 8-for-10 at the free throw line versus Oral Roberts on Saturday, becoming the first player in University of North Dakota history to eclipse the 500 mark in makes at the charity stripe. She is one of only four players in Division I to record 500 makes in a career and one of 10 across all NCAA Divisions.

TWENTY-POINT SCORERS
With Julia Fleecs 33 point night in Macomb on Feb. 1, UND now has five players on its active roster with 20-point games in their careers. Take a peek at the game notes PDF for a look at the number of 20-point games for each player. 

THE EFFORT AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE...TWICE
Julia Fleecs 33 points at WIU were the most scored by a UND player in a league contest since Megan Lauck dropped 36 points in the regular season finale at Southern Utah on March 9, 2013. Lexi Klabo then matched the effort in the regular season home finale against Denver with 33. Klabo's most-recent 30-point effort was the 11th in North Dakota's Division I history and its 19th such performance since 2004-05.

FLEECS' GAME IS ON FLEEK
Sophomore Julia Fleecs had a breakout weekend for the Fighting Hawks Feb. 1 and 3 at Western and Omaha. Shooting 57.6 percent from the field (19-of-33), the Glidden, Iowa native averaged 24 points and was a flawless 8-of-8 at the free-throw line. Shecored a Fighting Hawk season-best 33 points, besting Lexi Klabos' 30-point efforts at Rhode Island (Nov. 27) and UMass (Nov. 28).

DAILEY GOES DOWNTOWN
Melissa Dailey got blistering hot in the opening game of the Stetson Hatter Classic, hitting a UND career-best six threes in the second half alone en route to 20 points, also her most in a Fighting Hawk uniform. She tripled twice in the third quarter then buried four fourth-quarter deep ones to finish 6-for-11 from downtown.

BLOCK IT OUT
Senior Lexi Klabo is inching among the leaders in blocked shots all-time at UND. She had 66 blocks this past season, which puts her into the top 10 in that category at the school. Her 171 career blocks also place her in the top 10 at North Dakota.

DIRTY 30s
Lexi Klabo's back-to-back 30-point games at Rhode Island and UMass were historic. Some notes after those performances: 
*The last UND player to score 30 points on back-to-back nights was Ashley Langen, who scored 31 against Augustana on Feb. 11, 2005 then poured in 36 a night later against Minnesota Duluth (at Ralph Engelstad Arena).
*The last UND player to score 30+ more than once in a season was Kierah Kimbrough, who did it in 2008-09 (32 vs. Houston Baptist, 30 vs. Seattle).
*Dating back to last season, Klabo has scored in double figures in 22 of her last 23 games. 
*She's scored 30 points or more in three of her previous 28 games and has 20-point performances in 17 of her last 33 games. 

TRACK IT DOWN, JACK
All University of North Dakota basketball games can be heard live on the UND sports Home of Economy Radio Network. The flagship for UND basketball is 100.3 The Cat with 1440 AM The Fan running games when men's and women's games are simultaneous. Jack Michaels, also the voice of UND football,  is on the call providing the play-by-play for the UND women. 

HOW TO FOLLOW?
You can follow UND women's basketball on twitter @UNDWbasketball for in-game scores, notes and links to live stats and how to watch.

FIGHTING HAWKS ON MOBILE
Take North Dakota women's basketball with you wherever you go with the Fighting Hawks mobile app. Download it to your computer or your smart phone for free and follow your team wherever they go. 

**For the complete game notes release, click here**