The UND women’s basketball team who took the court against Grand Canyon University was not the team that Coach Mallory Bernhard wanted; they weren’t tough enough.
“Tonight was a night that showed how much tougher we need to get,” she said. “I don’t want to be a coach that has a pretty team; I want to be a tough, gritty team.”
The University of North Dakota Women’s Basketball team fell 73-61 to Grand Canyon University in their home opener at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Nov 11. It was their second loss of the season after falling 77-60 to Wyoming on Nov 6. The women’s basketball team is now 0-2 on the season after being picked to finish fourth in the Summit League.
UND is a very new team with seven fresh players, five freshmen, and two transfers. There is also a higher percentage of underclassmen making the team noticeably young in addition to new. It is a change from last year.
The game was lost in the first quarter. Immediately, GCU was able to pot five points, before UND could get on the board. GCU dominated the first quarter, and by the end, it was 20-9 in favor of GCU.
UND was able to rally in the second quarter, going on a bit of a run and starting to push back against GCU aggressive full court pressure. Even though the score was 39-28 going into half-time, UND and GCU were an even 19-19 in the second quarter.
At half-time, Bernhard rallied the team to try to turn the positive momentum into a comeback. At half time, she said they were focused on preventing GCU from getting more dribble handoffs and doing more to stop them from turning corners.
“We just need to quit getting ourselves in situations where we’re requiring help,” Bernhard said. “We need to have better on ball presence. If we don’t get broken down, we don’t require help.”
Even with the momentum built in the second quarter and the half-time strategizing, UND could not tie the game or pull ahead. They were outscored 25-17 in the third quarter but outscored GCU 16-9 in the fourth instead. Still the late rally wasn’t enough, their first quarter deficit couldn’t be overcome.
5th year senior Kacie Borowicz, who scored 20 points in the game, says that UND had glimpses of showing their team identity and playing to it, but that it was prevented by GCU’s play
“There were definitely times where we were playing the basketball we wanted to play,” Borowicz said. “But they also dictated us for a while I think right away; they shot the lights out.”
The team struggled to find its rhythm with players coming in and out frequently, trying to find some consistent scoring. Borowicz says this increased the need to work on communication.
“There needs to be a high level of communication. That’s something we still need to work on. But every time someone comes in, they have got to be up to speed on what we’ve been doing, if we make any changes, things like that,” she said. “So, it is a little challenging to have so many people but it’s also a good thing to be able to put that many people in the game.”
One of those players was freshman Kiera Pemberton, who had a great breakout game, scoring 18 points. Coach Bernhard had high praise for the underclassman.
“She definitely showed what she’s capable of and why we’re happy she’s a Hawk, that’s for sure,” Bernhard said. “You get her on the open court and she’s electric.”
Coming off their second loss in a row, Bernhard is looking to the legacy of UND basketball legend Katie Richards, who recently died and was honored during the game, for the team’s inspiration.
“We said goodbye to Katie Richards, and she’s the toughest person I’ve ever met in my life,” Bernhard said. “Our team will do everything we can to get tough like Katie, and if Katie’s motto was ‘be better,’ UND’s women’s basketball will be better.”
Maeve Hushman is a Dakota Student Sports Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].
