GAME NOTES
The Bison from North Dakota State are moving on to the semifinals after a convincing 79-67 win over Denver this afternoon. The top three-point shooting team in the conference showed up today as the Bison finished the game 10-23 from the three-point line. NDSU moves on to play the 2-seed, South Dakota, tomorrow at 2:45pm, in a very intriguing matchup. You can view the game on MIDCO or by downloading the MIDCO Sports Plus app.
The game started with Denver’s Uju Ezeudu scoring 10 of the first 14 points for the Pioneers, as well as NDSU’s first four buckets coming from three-point shots. The Bison went 7-11 from deep in the opening quarter and ended the quarter on an 11-0 run to lead 25-14. When asked about what she thought of her team’s shooting early on, R-Sophomore Heaven Hamling said, “They started in a zone and we needed to prove a point early on.” Head coach Jory Collins added, “I thought the ball movement was good and that led to those good looks early on.”. Meanwhile, Denver had things going well for them in the paint, scoring all but two of their opening quarter score in the paint..
After a quick bucket by Reneya Hopkins, Denver responded with a 6-1 run to narrow the deficit to 28-20. Things started getting sloppy for first-year Denver head coach Doshia Woods’ team. Seven Pioneer turnovers led to 14 points for NDSU during the second quarter. NDSU built up a 12-2 run to increase their lead 40-22 with a minute to go in the half. Denver’s Charlotte Levison scored a layup right before halftime to cut the deficit to 40-25 going into the break. Hamling led the Bison at the break with 14 points and four rebounds; Denver’s Sophomore Uju Ezeudu had 10 points and 4 rebounds.
NDSU continued to add to their lead to start the second half. A quick 8-2 run made the score 48-27 just a few minutes in. By the media timeout of the quarter, Denver trailed 59-33. Denver started going away from their offense and forced some pretty bad shots. Combine that with not being able to stop NDSU on the defensive end or rebound all that well, they found themselves in a 25 point hole, trailing the Bison 65-40 after the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was what you’d expect in a 25 point game. Most of the quarter was exchanging buckets and fouls until the media timeout. From the media timeout until the final buzzer sounded however, Denver went on a 17-4 run for a final score of 79-67. It was really nice to see Coach Woods’ team compete until the end. They have a lot of young talent on the roster and I look forward to seeing them develop. I asked her about what she was most proud of with her team. Woods said, “It’s a great time to be a first-year head coach. I’m really proud of our young kids. They embraced my new style of coaching. It wasn’t easy at first, but the future is pretty bright here.”
How’d I do in my prediction?
Once again, not good. I had this game going to OT and I was so confident in this that I even tweeted it in Sharpie (if you know, you know). I said that both teams would shoot it well from deep, when only NDSU shot it well (43.5% compared to Denver’s 20%). I guess you could say I was right about both teams having big runs; NDSU having numerous in the first half and then Denver with a 17-4 run to end the game. I’ll chalk it up as a dub.
Player Notes
North Dakota State
The Bison were led by Heaven Hamling with 16 points, five rebounds, and three assists; Ryan Cobbins finished with 14 points (3-5 from 3-point land); Emily Dietz ended up with eight points, five rebounds and three assists; Kadie Deaton with impressive minutes. She score 11 points in 19 minutes on 5-6 shooting.
Denver
Meghan Boyd led all scorers with 19 points, four rebounds, and four assists; Uju Ezeudu finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Some Stats Before You Go
NDSU went 10-23 from 3-point range; 5-25 for Denver
NDSU out-rebounded Denver 35-30
NDSU led for over 37 minutes
NDSU had 24 bench points; Denver 16