On November 2nd, UND lost an exhibiton home game to Divison 2 Northern State. Now when something like this happens, there are two ways a team can respond
- The team takes it personal and comes out of the gates firing.
- The team doesnt recover and starts the season slow
After this week, you can say that UND has chosen the first option. They started the season out with two wins at home, including a win against a good Wyoming squad.
Monday: UND 70, Detroit Mercy 61
Friday: UND 67, Wyoming 55
Week 1 Thoughts:
-The biggest takeaway from the first two games has to be the turnovers. For years, UND seemed to struggle with taking care of the ball on offense. Well in two games, UND has only turned the ball over 14 times… in 2 games.
Now, this is only two games of course but this is a positive development. If UND can stay consistenly around 10-12 turnovers a game all year long, that will go a long way for the team.
-Rebounding was a mixed bag. In the game against Detroit Mercy, they gave up 20 offensive rebounds and lost the rebounding battle 49-37. It was a tough pill to swallow against a team that was of similar size. Against a taller Wyoming squad, UND rebounded much better. When you are a smaller squad, the basic rebounding fundamentals are even more important for a team to execute. They did a much better job against Wyoming in executing that. It was a great response
-Free throw shooting was also a mixed bag, it was a surprising 7-17 against Detroit Mercy, but they bounced back and went 15-17 against Wyoming, including a 11-12 showing in the 4th quarter.
-While the 3 ball fell against Detroit Mercy in the 1st quarter, the rest of the time, it has still been a struggle. While they don’t have Tara Bieniewicz due to a hamstring injury, there certainy are some capable shooters on this team that can put it in from distance. If they can do that, that will help keep the defenses honest and not pack it in, like we have seen in the past.
-I don’t think this gets mentioned enough, but the staff hit a home run when they brough in Jolene Daninger as a transfer. She is someone that is comfortable in both a starting and a 6th person role. She is also a very good rebounder, averging just under 10 rebounds in the two games (grabbed 12 against Wyoming), she also provided a nice punch in the scoring column.
-There has been much made about the lack of size of UND and the size they do have don’t have much expereince. Miranda Vanderwal fits under the 2nd category. The 6’7″ Canadian Center is certainly a raw talent, but for the time that she is on the floor, I felt she is doing a excellent job of grabbing rebounds and scoring around the basket. I think the staff is doing a great job in putter her in positions that she can be successful and not asking her to do too much right now. I mean, she is nearly averaging a double-double and is averaing 12 minutes a game! If they can keep getting this from her, this will really help UND going forward.
-We all know that Borowicz is a dangerous threat on the offensive side of the basketball, nearly averaging 20 points a game to start the season. The biggest thing that I am impressed: In two games, 15 assists, 5 turnovers. This is the next evolution of her game, if she can keep around to a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio this season, if will make her even more dangerous.
-I am really loving the wrinkle of the full court press. They mix it in and have had some decent success with it, espeically when Rakiyah Beal is in. Her athletic ability is off the chart and just needs to get more reps to see the college game slow down for her on the defensive side of the basketball.
-Nakiyah Hurst is going to be an offensive force once she adjusts to the college game. She really has the full skill set of shooting, driving, and posting up. Just need to avoid getting into foul trouble to really get some extended minutes.
-Good to see Juliet Gordon back on the floor after missing last season due to injury. Has been providing some decent minutes at the 5 spot and showed that she can step out and hit the 3 ball.
-Claire Orth had a big game against Detroit Mercy, dropping 17 points and doing it in every way possible. In the Wyoming game, while her scoring was down, she stepped up by grabbing 5 rebounds and impacting the game in all aspects of the game.
-DJ Davis provide her usual tough perimeter defense in the Detroit Mercy game, but took a nasty fall towards the end of the game. It was announced that she suffered a concussion and missed the Wyoming game. We hope that she recovers quickly and is back on the court soon!
-Sammiyah Hoskin has been snakebit on offense, that’s the only way to say it. She has had so many shots that have rolled off the rim. The one shot that she hit against Wyoming was a big shot for 3 in the 4th quarter that helped stayed off a Cowboy rally. Against her old team, she had 6 points and 5 rebounds, including 4 on the offensive end. Once those shots start to fall for her, she will be an excellent weapon at the 3 spot of the lineup.
UND is off to a good start in non-conference play and will spend the rest of the month hitting the road. First up, a road trip to Montana to take on some old rivals from the Big Sky Conference. This will be another good test to see where UND stacks up with the Montana school picked 1-2 in the preseason polls and NDSU already beating Montana.