Freshman Leah Szabla dribbles the ball earlier this season in a game against Minnesota-Crookston. File photo.

UND women’s basketball is on a roll as it clinched its third straight victory Wednesday afternoon when it defeated the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The Green and White’s 78-66 victory over Milwaukee was their first road win of the season.

“Great colabroative effort out of our team,” UND coach Travis Brewster said. “I thought we executed down the stretch when we needed to.”

UND started off the game with a weak offensive performance, going 1 for 11 early in the first half. However, a plus-18 rebounding edge — including 25 offensive boards — was enough to offset a sluggish shooting start.

Coming out of halftime, the teams traded leads multiple times, battling to gain an edge. With a 71-65 lead, sophomore Mia Loyd answered with another bucket to put the contest out of reach.

Senior Madi Buck posted a team-high 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds while Loyd tallied 13 points and 13 boards in the contest.

UND had four players in double figures scoring as Emily Evers and Megan Lauck each added 10 points. North Dakota got 29 points from its reserve players and recorded 47 second-half points in the victory.

Buck’s teammate, Kelsey Knox, said Buck has had excellent efforts and performance this season so far.

Buck hustles after every ball,” Knox said. “I admire her efforts and abilities — she leaves it all out on the floor”

UND is now sitting with a 3-2 record and hopes to continue its win streak.

“We are ready to go this year,” Knox said. “We are beating our 11-18 record from last year.”

The team began the season with losses to both Iowa State and Northern Iowa on a weekend road trip in early November for its first two games of the season.

However, the losses did not seem to break the Green and White’s spirit as they have now gone on a winning streak. The first win came when UND defeated South Dakota in its home-opener 65-61 on Nov. 17.

The second win was a blowout as UND routed Jamestown 93-56 for a nonconference game on Nov. 26.

Freshman Leah Szabla is proud of her team’s performance so far and is looking forward to the rest of the season.

“Everything is a learning experience — every game and every practice,” Szabla said. “We just keep trying to get better and better.”

UND returns to action Sunday at Minnesota. Tip time is set for 2 p.m.

Allison Moore is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].