BROOKINGS, S.D. - Senior Melissa Leet recorded a career night off the bench against Summit League co-leaders South Dakota State (13-2, 6-0 Summit) in the series finale, scoring a new-high 18 points with eight rebounds, but the senior's effort fell short for UND (0-13, 0-7 Summit) in Frost Arena, 66-44.

"We knew heading into tonight that we needed to do a better job defensively. We wanted to ball inside and attack the rim. We thought our advantage was inside with our size, and on a night like tonight we needed to keep feeding it in when we weren't able to get going from the perimeter . I thought we did a good job of making them work for their baskets but we need to do a better job of finishing offensively," said Interim Head Coach Mallory Bernhard.

"It was good to see what Leet did tonight," Bernhard added. "She's a player that has an edge about her at times, we just need to get that consistently from her. With Leet's size she can be a tough player defend when she gets going. She is 6'6 has great touch around the rim and has the ability to shoot the 3, all of which she demonstrated tonight."

After starting the opening frame in a 10-0 hole and trailing 15-4, UND rallied with an 8-0 run of its own to close the gap to three points with 2.5 minutes left in the quarter. However, the Jacks extended its lead to seven at the quarter and eventually to 15 at the end of the half, 33-18.

After tallying six points in the first half to lead the Fighting Hawks offense, Leet amassed 12 in the final 20 minutes, running the floor for 15 minutes and going a flawless 4-of-4 from the field with a 3-for-5 clip at the free-throw line. 

With the Palmer, Alaska native running the UND offense, the Fighting Hawks shot 40-percent in the third quarter, converting six of their 15 shot attempts in the period. With teams shooting coldly behind the three-point line in the half, a combined 3-for-21, the Hawks and Jacks both scored 18 points in the paint each.

North Dakota will return to action next weekend, returning home to host Western Illinois Jan. 29 and Jan. 30 at The Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Both game will tip at 5 p.m., and will be broadcasted on MidcoSN2, 100.3 FM The Cat in Grand Forks and 740 AM The Fan in Fargo.