UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA — Coach Mallory Bernhard felt that the victory over Denver indicated what this team needs to do to find success in their difficult final three games and the post-season.
“To really do well in this league, you have to compete for 40 minutes, and we saw it tonight,” Bernhard said. “When we were competing, we were clicking, and things were going well; I thought our defense was really locked in.”
The University of North Dakota defeated the University of Denver 75-65, taking sole control of sixth-place in the Summit League at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
Beyond more defensive steps forward. It was a big game for sophomore Kiyah Hurst, who led the team in points, scoring 27 and collecting her fourth double-double of the season with 11 rebounds.
“It’s always fun playing Denver,” Hurst said. “It’s really like another rivalry game with us.”
It was also Kacie Borowicz‘s (5th) 16th straight game scoring double digits and her 12th time scoring over 20 points this season. Borowicz put up 24 points against Denver.
The game got off to a hot start for UND. The Hawks scored 21 points on DU in the first quarter, shooting 43.75% from the field and 20% from three. On the other side of the court, UND’s defense held Denver to only 9 points.
“Denver is a very good team, and we saw them put up 102 points last week,” Bernhard said. “They’re a very high-level offensive team and for us to defend the way we did in the first half.”
In the second quarter, the Pioneers started to pick up the pace, outscoring UND 14-13. However, their explosive start to the first quarter kept the Fighting Hawks in control.
“It was a lot of runs back and forth,” Hurst said. “Denver’s a really good team, and we just love playing them.”
Hurst only played eight minutes in the first half of the game, but going into the third and fourth quarters, Hurst said the whole team picked up the pace.
“We just found a lot of defense in the first half, and we just upped our momentum on offense and coming out in the second half,” Hurst said. “And just listening to Mal [Coach Bernhard] coming out with the energy… and coming out with confidence and trust in each other.”
UND put up 20 more points in the third quarter, partly due to Hurst hitting three three-point shots in a row.
Hurst credited her teammates for her ability to find offense in the second half.
“I just had to talk to my teammates; they just boosted my confidence,” Hurst said. “I just came out feeling confident and knew I just have to be easy and let my game come to me.”
Going into the fourth quarter, UND had a 19-point lead over Denver. However, the hot streak that UND had found in the first and third quarters transferred over to the Pioneers, who were shooting 63.16% from the field and 50% from the 3. Even though UND was outshooting them from the field, Denver still put up 30 points to UND’s 21. The late push was not enough for the Pioneers, and UND won the game and the sixth-place rank in the Summit League.
UND has only four games left before the start of the postseason, including contests against the first, second, third, and fourth-place teams in South Dakota State University, North Dakota State, Oral Roberts, and University of South Dakota. They face SDSU, NDSU, and USD on the road as well. Those games, while difficult, matter immensely to UND getting a favorable seed going into the Summit League tournament. Bernhard says that getting a good matchup is “good from a confidence standpoint.”
“We have the most difficult stretch of probably anybody in the league to finish the season… there’s really not a more difficult four-game stretch that anybody’s going to have,” Bernhard said. “We still want to go down to Sioux Falls confident… We got a very incredibly challenging four games, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t do some things to help us when we get to Sioux Falls.”
Maeve Hushman is a Dakota Student Sports Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].
