QUICK JUMPERS
* North Dakota will play their final home game of the season on Saturday against the Western Illinois Leathernecks. 
*The Fighting Hawks head into Thursday's game with an overall record of 15-10 and a conference record of 9-5 after beating the St. Thomas Tommies (74-61).
* Captain Claire Orth led the Fighting Hawks with a new single game career high of 23 points. She secured seven rebounds. 
* Kacie Borowicz netted 19 points, had six rebounds, had six assists, and secured one steal.
* DJ Davis was the third Hawk to end in double figures with 13 points, three rebounds, and one assist.
* Olivia Lane was the fourth and final Fighting Hawk to end in double figures. She secured another double-double with 12 points, ten rebounds, and two blocks.
* Rounding out the scoring was Melissa Leet with seven points, four rebounds, and two blocks. 
* North Dakota currently sits in the NCAA Top 25 for free-throw percentage. They are 14th with a percentage of .776 as a team. 
* The Fighting Hawks also sit 21st in the NCAA Top 25 for rebounds with 930 this year. 
* North Dakota leads Western Illinois in the series 5-4. 
* The Tommies currently sit at a 6-15 overall record. They are currently 3-8 for conference play. 
* The Tommies' leading scorer is grad transfer, Erin Norling, with 13.9 points per game. 
* The Tommies currently sit eighth in the Summit League standings. This is their first season in the conference. 
* North Dakota is currently averaging 67.4 points per game, and they are averaging 38.8 rebounds per game. 
 * The Fighting Hawks were ranked ninth in the Summit's Preseason Coaches' Poll. They currently sit fourth in the standings behind the Kansas City Roos.

ON TAP
The North Dakota Fighting Hawks remain at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center to host the Western Illinois Leathernecks on Senior Day. Tip off is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 12.

LAST TIME OUT
The University of North Dakota defeated the Tommies 74-61 on Thursday evening. The Tommies took the lead early in the first with a three. St. Thomas continued to stay in the lead until Orth converted two free-throws to give the Fighting Hawks a 6-5 lead with 6:39 left to play in the first. Borowicz hit a three to extend the lead to three, but the Tommies kept it within one point until the Hawks netted two more free-throws. Sammy Opichka dropped a three to tie it for the Tommies at 3:04, but North Dakota responded with a 8-2 run to end the first quarter up 18-12. Orth kept the momentum going for the Hawks as she hit a three to start the second quarter. The Tommies responded and the teams began to trade baskets until 7:34 when Leet converted a three-point play, which was followed by a Davis three and another basket by Leet. The Tommies stopped the 8-0 run by capitalizing on two free-throws with 6:04 left in the second quarter. St. Thomas went on a 7-0 run towards the middle of the quarter to bring the game within single digits (26-33; 3:36). Borowicz ended the run and helped start the Hawks on a late 7-0 run of their own to give them the 40-28 lead headed into intermission. The Tommies came out of the half firing with a three from Erin Norling. Orth responded for the Hawks, but St. Thomas hit consecutive baskets to bring it within six with 7:47 left in the third. It was then North Dakota who hit back-to-back baskets to extend their lead to double figures (47-36; 6:00). The teams traded baskets to end the third as the Fighting Hawks led 60-47. St. Thomas was the first to strike again going on a 6-0 run. The Hawks ended the run by netting two free-throw and hitting a jumper. The battle continued as the Tommies hit consecutive baskets and then the Hawk retaliated and went on a 9-0 run. The Tommies continued to attack, but North Dakota ended the game on top, 74-61.

ALL-TIME WITH WESTERN ILLINOIS
The University of North Dakota leads the series with Western Illinois, 5-4. The last time that the two teams played each other was on Jan. 13, 2022. The Fighting Hawks beat the Leathernecks 76-65 at Western Hall.

LIV LANE LIGHTING UP THE LANE
Olivia Lane secured her third double-double in the last two weeks with 12 points and ten rebounds against the University of St. Thomas. Last week in Omaha and Denver, Lane secured two double-doubles. She led the Fighting Hawks on the board and on the boards with 16 points and ten rebounds against the Omaha Mavericks. Lane also dominated the paint in Denver with 12 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. She currently sits at 243 points this season and 173 rebounds (55 OFF/118 DEF) in the 21 games that she has played this season. Throughout the season, she has secured seven double-doubles with five of those coming after New Year's. Six of her double-doubles were recorded against Summit League opponents. 

DJ DAVIS: DEFENSIVE AND OFFENSIVE THREAT
DJ Davis, a transfer from Dallas, Texas, finished the night against the St. Thomas with 13 points. Davis who has self-proclaimed herself a defensive player went 2-for-2 from beyond the arch against the Tommies. She was 4-for-6 for all field goals, and she went 3-for-3 from the free-throw line. Davis dropped three straight three-pointers against the Omaha Mavericks on Saturday afternoon. Davis now made ten three-pointers this season and five of those were from last Saturday's game and this Thursday's game. She currently has 75 points this season. On top of being an offensive force against the Tommies, DJ Davis was given the task of challenging Jade Hill against the Tommies. DJ, who played 23 minutes, and the rest of the Fighting Hawks kept Hill at 11 points in the game. Hill entered the game averaging 13.8 points per game and had netted 27 against Oral Roberts and 22 against Kansas City. 

CAPTAIN CLAIRE CAPITOLIZES
Olivia Lane ended the weekend with two double-doubles. She led the Fighting Hawks on the board and on the boards with 16 points and ten rebounds against the Omaha Mavericks. Lane also dominated the paint in Denver with 12 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. She currently sits at 231 points this season and 163 rebounds (53 OFF/110 DEF) in the 20 games that she has played this season. 

SCOUTING WESTERN ILLINOIS
Western Illinois enters the game with an 13-10 overall record and a 4-8 conference record. The Leathernecks opened their season on the road against Notre Dame with a loss of 50-76 and a win against Butler (73-46).  They continued the win streak at home hosting Chicago State (77-50), Bellarmine (105-82), and Missouri Baptist (103-43). They returned to travel and beat Tarleton State (58-54) but fell to Incarnate World (59-63). The Leathernecks hosted the Compass Classic, they went 2-0 during the tournament with a win against Northern Illinois (92-83) and Southern Illinois (85-80). This pushed them to another winning streak, which continued throughout non-conference play with SIUE (96-93) and Greenville (105-56). Their first conference game was against Denver, who they beat 72-66. They hosted Omaha as their second conference game, which resulted in a 77-70 win. Their first conference loss was to St. Thomas who beat the Leathernecks 66-64. Their games against Kansas City and Oral Roberts were postponed due to COVID protocol. Western Illinois returned to action against the Fighting Hawks, but they fell at home 65-76. The battle of the Dakotas continued as they faced and lost to North Dakota State (55-63), South Dakota (53-70), and South Dakota State (50-114). They secured another conference win against St. Thomas 82-67. The headed to the road to make-up the first Kansas City game but fell 66-74. They returned to Western Hall to host Oral Roberts, but they were unable to secure the win as they fell 55-71. It was then their turn to host the Roos for a rematch, but they were unable to hold on and lost in overtime 87-85. Their most recent match was against the NDSU Bison, which they won 61-59. 

NEXT UP
Following Saturday afternoon's game, the University of North Dakota travels to Kansas City to face the Roos on Thursday, Feb. 17. The tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.