UND
has dominated NAIA competition for years.
The Sioux have more of everything - size,
speed and depth - compared to their NAIA
opponents.
Dakota State, an
NAIA school in Madison, S.D., apparently
didn't get that message during UND's 73-59
win against the Lady T's on Saturday.
The small school
left the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center
feeling good about its performance. And
Dakota State wasn't that far away from
leaving with an upset win.
There weren't many
positives No. 1 UND (8-0) could take from
its latest win. The Sioux committed a
season-high 22 turnovers. UND had more
turnovers than assists (21) - a rarity for
the usually sharp Sioux offense.
“It all comes down
to heart and competitiveness,” UND coach
Gene Roebuck said. “We came out right away
and were intense, but we quit playing hard.
But you have to give credit to Dakota State.
They played hard. Dakota State outplayed
us.”
UND won with its
size and power up front.
Ashley Langen led
the Sioux with 18 points and 14 rebounds -
her 30th career double double. Kierah
Kimbrough, who topped the 1,000-point mark a
night earlier, finished with 16 points,
while freshman forward Mallory Youngblut
added 10.
The Sioux,
however, couldn't distance themselves from
Dakota State
(7-4) until the final seven minutes.
UND
breezed to a 14-2 lead in the opening
minutes, but Dakota State managed to pull
within 35-32 by halftime. The Sioux made
things look easy in the early going. But the
Lady T's,
led by Nicole Geraets' 18 points, stayed
around by winning the race to loose
basketballs, making 3-pointers and recording
seven steals in the first half.
The Sioux couldn't
do much early in the second half, either.
A 3-pointer by
Angela Carr with 15 minutes, 17 seconds to
go tied the game at 41. The Sioux finally
put together a spurt when Kimbrough and
Karla Beck responded with back-to-back
baskets in a span of seven seconds for a
51-44 lead with 11:51 to go.
UND did just
enough after that to get the job done.
“We
attacked,” Dakota State coach Jeff Dittman
said. “We were aggressive and
executed well at both the
offensive and defensive ends of the court.
But our
front line
just got worn down
battling their size all night. I was
really proud of the effort of team tonight.
They battled all night and had nothing left
after the game.”
There was a time,
though, when Dittman thought his team had a
chance to make UND even more nervous.
“We had the
ball three times
with UND
up 38-37,
but we turned it over
each
time,” Dittman said. “But I'm pleased with
how hard our kids played.
When we got down
14-2
at the start of the game,
we could have packed in our bags.
Our seniors showed their leadership and
competitiveness tonight.”
Dakota State's
spirited play, combined with UND's troubles
hanging onto the ball, resulted in a flat
atmosphere. The 1,959 fans never got into
the game.
UND looked sharp
in its win against No. 13 Glenville State of
West Virginia a night earlier. The letdown a
night later concerned Roebuck.
“With the teams
I've had in the past, we played better
during the second night of our back-to-back
games,” Roebuck said. “Somewhere down the
line, our players have to understand what
the coaches are trying to do for them.”
