The UND Women’s team got to finally play a couple of home games against some old friends from the Big Sky Conference: Montana and Montana State. UND dropped the first game against the Griz on Thursday before bouncing back with their first win against the Cats.
Thursday: Montana 72, North Dakota 51
In what had been a carbon copy of the start of the season, UND was again without 3 of their regular starters (due to COVID). The team struggled to shoot against the taller Griz team. The team shot 30% from the field and was 3-18 from 3, season lows so far from the team.
The first quarter was a slow start for both teams on the offensive side of the ball. Sammy Fatkin started her night off with 9 of her game high 25 points to give Montana a spark. UND got off to a nice start, going up 6-2 behind Deja Davis and Melissa Leet and the game stayed pretty tight before the last 3:11 of the quarter, where UND went into a bit of a drought to end the quarter, while Montana finished on a 7-0 run to take a 18-12 lead at the end of the quarter. Leet scored 6 points in the quarter to lead the way for UND.
The 2nd quarter was the best quarter for UND, as they outscored Montana 17-15. This was behind the shooting of Maggie Manson, who had 8 of the teams point, hitting 2 3s. While the Griz had the higher field goal percentage, UND had the advantage from 3 and from the free throw line. Despite the struggles, UND was still in the game, only down 33-29 at the half.
The 2nd half turned out a little bit different, UND continued to be cold from the field and Montana started to heat up. UND struggled with 3-14 shooting in the 3rd quarter and only attempted 1 free throw in the quarter. Montana did a little bit better, shooting 6-16 from the field. The 4th quarter, Montana turned it up and had a big time 4th quarter, scoring 25 points. Haley Huard led the way with 10 points in the 4th quarter, and Sammy Fatkin chipped in 7 more points in the 4th to help seal the deal.
Melissa Leet had a great performance on both ends, scoring 19 points on 9-16 shooting and grabbing 6 rebounds. She also had 4 steals. The other player in double figures was Maggie Manson, who scored 10 points. Jolene Daninger had 5 points, but lead the team with 8 rebounds in the contest.
After the tough loss, UND looked to turn in around against the other Montana School, and did they ever!
Saturday: North Dakota 89, Montana State 85
Against a tough opponent in Montana State, the Hawks were finally able to scratch across their first win of the season. It was also the first official win for coach Mallory Bernhard as the head coach (she had two wins as the interim coach last year The win was buoyed by the return of Kacie Borowicz.
It didn’t start off very well for UND in the beginning, they spot the Bobcats 14 points to start the contest. UND managed to weather the storm with a 7-0 run of their own and managed to close the gap down to 3 points at the end of the quarter.
The 2nd quarter was a big quarter for not only UND but for Borowicz. She scored 14 of her career high 33 points in that quarter and outscored the entire Bobcat team. She not only did it with jumpers but also at the free throw line. Not only was UND bringing it on the offensive end, the defense stepped up as well, holding the Bobcats to 4-21 shooting.
The UND offense continued to shine in the third quarter, doing most of their damage from the free throw line and from 3. UND shot 3-5 from the 3 point line and hit 7-8 from the free throw line. Borowicz chipped in 6 points, while Claire Orth had 4 points. Deja Davis, Maggie Manson, and Jolene Daninger all hit a 3 pointer in the 3rd quarter.
The final quarter was a struggle from the field, but they were dominate on the free throw line, making 17 of 18 from the free throw line. The person who was behind most of those shots were Borowicz once again, going 10 of 10 from the free throw line, making her a perfect 20 of 20 from the free throw line!
In addition to the 33 points, Borowicz had 5 assists and 3 rebounds. UND had 3 other players in double figures with Deja Davis scoring 11 points and playing great defense. Maggie Manson also had 11 points, including 3 3s and 5 assists. Melissa Leet also had 11 points, with 9 boards and 4 steals, and Clare Orth had 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals. It was by far the teams best shooting performance from the field, 3, and the free throw line.
After the split, UND travels up to Burlington, Vermont to play in a 2 game tournament with Vermont, Bucknell, and Brown this weekend. Hopefully, with the team getting healthier, they can continue to pile on the wins and continue the momentum to finish the month of November.