GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Kacie Borowicz's go-ahead bucket with 12 seconds to play capped a late rally by North Dakota and boosted the Fighting Hawks to a 65-63 victory over Omaha on Thursday night at a raucous Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, N.D. 

UND (10-6, 3-3 Summit League) trailed by three, 63-60, with 2:56 to play, but the NoDak defense held the Mavericks without a point (8-8, 3-2 Summit League) and forced turnovers to complete a 5-0 run and the comeback victory to improve to 8-0 at home this season. 

Following a Borowicz basket to trim the lead to one, Claire Orth forced a turnover with a steal to give the ball back to the hosts in the final 30 seconds. Despite a giveaway on the offensive end, the North Dakota defense forced a second turnover on the ensuing possession for another chance at the lead. The senior wouldn't miss a second time, as the league's top scorer drilled a basket from the elbow to give UND a 64-63 lead with 12 seconds to play. 

The defense continued to dominate in the final moments, with Juliet Gordon grabbing her second steal of the game and forcing an Omaha foul to allow the Hawks to ice it at the charity stripe for the 65-63 win. 

Borowicz was up to her usual ways on the offensive side of the ball, scoring a game-high 18 points while dishing out six assists, grabbing five rebounds and a block in 37 minutes of action. The senior has now reached double figures in 25 straight games dating back to Jan. 29, 2022 and has led UND in scoring in each game this season. 

Rakiyah Beal was the final Fighting Hawk in double figures, scoring a career-high 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting while also pulling down a personal-best seven rebounds to match the team lead. Gordon also had seven rebounds and three rejections to pace NoDak in both categories while Sammiyah Hoskin and Miranda VanderWal had six and five boards, respectively. 

Both teams jumped out to a strong offensive start, with each side shooting over 50 percent in the opening quarter to see the game tied at 18-18. UND closed the frame on a 4-0 run in the final 40 seconds thanks to a bucket from Borowicz, a block from Hoskin and a final second basket by Orth to bring the score level at the end of 10 minutes. 

The second quarter saw both teams take a six-point lead, with Omaha scoring the first six points of the period and UND answering back in the middle of the stanza to grab a 34-28 advantage with three minutes to play. Following a 6-0 run by the visitors to bring the score level, Borowicz closed the half with a bucket to send the hosts to the locker room with a 36-34 lead at the intermission. 

It was a defensive 10 minutes in the third, as both teams shot near the 20 percent mark, but it was UND who still held the lead for the entire frame to carry a 49-48 advantage as the game entered the final frame. 

Omaha took its first lead since the midway point of the second quarter, 50-49, less than a minute into the fourth, but never saw its advantage get higher than three as NoDak continued to claw back before eventually completing the rally in the final minute to grab a 65-63 triumph. 

North Dakota looks to make it a weekend sweep against Denver on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. from the Betty. 

Postgame Notes

• UND improves to 56-11 all-time against Omaha and 28-5 at the Betty
• The Hawks see their three-game losing streak come to an end to improve to 3-3 in Summit League play
• Borowicz has paced North Dakota in scoring in each game this season and has reached double figures in 25 straight
• Beal knocked down a career-high 10 points and grabbed a personal-best seven rebounds to tie for the team lead
• Gordon also paced UND with seven boards, three blocks and two steals
• UND forced 19 turnovers that led to 18 points
• NoDak improves to 8-0 at home, its best start at the Betty in over a decade
• UND went 24-of-69 (.348) from the field while Omaha was 22-of-58 (.379) 
• The game was tied 10 times and saw 11 lead changes, with no team leading by more than six
• UND grabbed 44 rebounds, including 18 on the offensive glass, and Omaha finished with 42

How It Happened

• Q1: UND 18, Omaha 18
• Q2: UND 36, Omaha 34
• Q3: UND 49, Omaha 48
• Q4: UND 65, Omaha 63