It was quite the successful trip to the Northeast Part of the United State for the UND Women, as they took two out of three games in a span of 4 days. They went 1-1 in the Vermont Tournament and then took down Siena just this last Tuesday. The wins helped to improve UNDs record to 3-4 on the season (and surpass their win total from last year!)
Vermont Tournament
Game 1: Bucknell 64, North Dakota 59
The first half was a cold start for both team. UND was just a little bit warmer that Bucknell as UND held them to 8-33 shooting in the first half. UND was slightly better, going 12-35 from the field. Kacie Borowicz led the charge in the first quarter, scoring 6 out of the teams 13 points. UND managed to expand the lead even further in the 2nd quarter behind Clair Orth, who scored the teams first 7 points of the 2nd quarter. UND took a 30-21 lead into the half and looked to be in good shape.
Then the 2nd half came and both teams started to heat up from the floor. Bucknell managed to chip into the lead in the 3rd quarter by shooting over 47% from the field. Orth and Melissa Leet did their best to keep UND in front, which UND was still able to do. They took a 2 point lead into the 4th quarter. Unfortunately for UND, they were unable to hold it as Bucknell shot the ball even better in the 4th quarter and got to the free throw line at will. The team traded the lead back and forth and at one point, UND hit a 3 with 20 seconds left to cut the lead to 1 at 60-59. Jolene Daninger hit one from deep off an offensive rebound by Maggie Manson. However, Bucknell paraded themselves back to the free throw line to close out the game.
The difference of the game was at the free throw line. UND only shot 8-13 from the free throw line, while Bucknell shot 19-25 from the line. Usually when team make more free throws than the other team shoots, they come away with the win. The 4th quarter was very dominant for Bucknell, they shot 10-13 from the free throw line, while UND was 1-3.
Clair Orth had 15 points to lead the way for UND, she also got 4 steals. Kacie Borowicz chipped in 12 points, grabbed 7 boards, and had 5 assists in the contest. Jolene Daninger had 8 points and 9 rebounds off of the bench.
After a tough finish to game 1, UND looked ahead to Day 2 and the matchup against Brown.
Game 2: North Dakota 65, Brown 46
UND looked to bounce back after a tough loss to Bucknell. They managed to do so with a great first half of play, outscoring Brown 39-24. Clair Orth and Olivia Lane did most of the damage in the first quarter, scoring 8 and 6 points respectively. It was great to see Lane break out in her 2nd game back. UND got off to a slow start in the first quarter, falling behind 9-2 to Brown. UND then proceeded to go on a 19-4 run for the rest of the quarter. The second quarter allowed UND to expand their lead further. Orth chipped in another 5 points, while Jolene Daninger also got 5 points off of the bench in the 2nd quarter.
The 2nd half was a bit of a low scoring affair, the 3rd quarter scoring was tied at 13 a piece, with Kacie Borowicz leading the way for UND with 7 points. UND kept the lead up in the 4th quarter, which allowed them to empty their bench to get their 2nd win of the season.
Borowicz and Orth lead the way with 17 points each. Borowicz also had 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Orth also collected 5 rebounds. Olivia Lane came off the bench and got her first double-double of the season, with 11 points and 12 rebounds. In addition to her 5 points, Daninger grabbed 8 rebounds off of the bench for UND. UND shot 40.3% from the field and also shot 42.9% from 3. They also outrebounded Brown 51-39 in the contest. After the Vermont Tournament, UND went down to New York to take on Siena.
Tuesday’s Game
North Dakota 71, Siena 63.
The road trip concluded with a stop in New York and UND made it two in a row with a 71-63 win over a winless Siena squad. The big story was the offensive performances from Kacie Borowicz, Maggie Manson, and Claire Orth. The 3 guards combined for 51 out of UNDs 71 points. Each of the guards had their moments during the game. Borowicz started out the game hot, scoring 7 of a team high 18 points in the first quarter. Then Maggie Manson stepped it up in the 2nd half, scoring 8 of her 16 points in the 2nd quarter, including hitting a pair of 3 pointers. In the 3rd quarter, Clair Orth led the charge with 8 of her 17 points in the 3rd quarter. UND was shooting well from the field, going 46.4% from the field and went 50% from 3. They also went 12-14 from the free throw line.
In addition to the 18 points, Borowicz also dropped 7 assists. Orth grabbed 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals to go with her 17 points. Manson hit 4 3’s, forced 3 steals, and grabbed 5 rebounds to go with her 16 points. UND also outrebounded Siena 38-29. If there was one area of struggle, it was the turnovers. UND had 23 turnovers in the contest. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt them very much, but this is an area to clean up.
It almost was a perfect trip for the team, but there is much to be positive about with 2 wins and the team starting to get back healthy. If Lane can continue to knock off the rust to go with the good guard play, UND will continue to be successful. After a rough start to the season, things are starting to come together.
The team will be back at home (at last!) to take on Minnesota-Morris this Saturday.