Bison women throw a 3-point party in rout of UND

UND’s Kacie Borowicz led all scorers with a career-high 40 points. But the Bison hit 15 shots from beyond the arc, putting six players in double figures for a 107-80 victory at Scheels Center at Sanford Health Athletic Complex.

“With our team, anyone can make a shot, especially behind the arc so it’s been good for us,” said Bison forward Miriley Simon. “We shoot without hesitation and with confidence.”

The win clinched the No. 2 Summit tournament seed for the Bison, who at 12-2 in the conference close the regular season with a home game Thursday against South Dakota and Saturday at South Dakota State. In the process, NDSU won its seventh straight game and improved to 10-1 against UND under fifth-year head coach Jory Collins.

The Bison won 101-85 in Grand Forks earlier this month. This time, they stuck 34 points on the Hawks in the first quarter hitting 12 of 19 shots, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range. UND didn’t throw much defensive resistance on the Bison, trailing by 16 points after 10 minutes.

“There are definitely times where we can score quick on them,” said NDSU guard Abby Schulte. “Transition is a big emphasis for us, too. There are ways we can score on them and we really executed out there and I think that’s what got us to 100 more than anything.”

It quickly turned the Hawks into major catch-up mode, with Schulte making that tougher with 12 first-half points. NDSU led 56-43 at the break making 8 of 12 3-point field goals compared to UND’s 0 of 4, although the Hawks did make 56% of their overall shots.

It wasn’t enough to keep pace with NDSU, not even with Borowicz on her game. The Fighting Hawks senior was a load for the Bison hitting 16 of 26 shots, besting her previous career high of 36 points.

“It’s hard because you want to be excited for yourself but you don’t feel that way,” Borowicz said. “It’s a weird feeling.”

NDSU finished the quarter on a 13-3 run to take an 83-63 advantage into the final 10 minutes, which turned into more of a victory lap. Elle Evans led NDSU with 21 points but she also had plenty of help.

Guard Heaven Hamling had 17, Schulte and Simon 15 each, forwards Abbie Draper 14 and guard Leah Mackenzie 11. Evans hit 5 of 7 3-point shots. Simon hit all three of her 3s while Mackenzie and Draper hit both of their 3-pointers.

“We knew NDSU was an incredibly talented team and we knew we were up for an incredibly difficult challenge,” said UND head coach Mallory Bernhard. “But it was made exponentially more difficult with their shooting today. They were absolutely lights out and it was everybody. Everybody contributed for them in some way.”

Example A: NDSU got 32 points from its bench with the likes of Simon and Mackenzie to neutralize Borowicz’s output.

“Yeah, terrific,” said NDSU head coach Jory Collins. “I was really, really happy for Leah today. She has not been able to show yet what she really is capable of, today was a better glimpse of who she is as a player. And there is nothing more fun than watching Miriley make threes and give whatever hand signal she gives for that.”

It culminated a festive day at Scheels Arena, with the men’s game earlier in the day drawing over 5,000 fans. The women’s game drew 2,502.

“And to come in and play in front of that crowd was a lot of fun,” Collins said. “I know our players felt the juice and really, really enjoyed that. I think that was a big part of us getting off to a good start in the first quarter.”

UND 18 43 63 80

NDSU 34 56 83 107

UND (9-18, 5-9 Summit): Pemberton 4-12 2-2 10, Davis 2-4 0-0 4, Aumer 0-3 1-2 1, Hurst 5-9 1-1 11, Borowicz 16-26 5-5 40, Beal 0-2 1-2 1, Ibrahim 4-6 4-5 12, Hoskin 0-1 1-2 1, Owen 0-0 0-0 0, Oberg 0-0 0-0 0, Vanderwal 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 31-63 15-19 80.

NDSU (18-9, 12-2 Summit): Draper 5-6 2-2 14, H. Hamling 6-10 4-4 17, Evans 7-14 2-2 21, Schulte 4-5 6-7 15, Krzewinski 2-3 3-4 8, Koenen 3-5 0-0 6, Simon 4-6 4-4 15, Mackenzie 3-4 3-5 11, Graham 0-3 0-0 0, T. Hamling 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 34-57 24-32 107.

Total fouls: UND 27, NDSU 16. Fouled out: Ibrahim, Hurst. Rebounds: UND 26 (Pemberton 7); NDSU 36 (Krzewinski 7). 3-point goals: UND 3-10 (Davis 0-2, Hurst 0-3, Borowicz 3-5); NDSU 15-23 (Draper 2-2, H. Hamling 1-4, Evans 5-7, Schulte 1-1, Simon 3-3, Mackenzie 2-2, T. Hamling 0-1, Graham 0-2). Assists: UND 7 (seven with 1); NDSU 15 (H. Hamling 5). Turnovers: UND 16 (Borowicz 8); NDSU 16 (H. Hamling, Krzewinski 3). A-2,502.