The non-conference schedule has come to an end after a 87-66 win against Mayville State. They finished the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 7-3 record and winners of their last 5. Before the Summit portion of the schedule starts on Monday at home against an improved St. Thomas squad, here are some of the big things that went down in the non-conference.
4 Big Thoughts From Non-Conference
- Non-Conference was mostly successful
After the exhibition loss, there was a lot of grumbling from the fanbase that perhaps this season wasn’t going to go as well as many thought it would. After 10 games in the non-conference, you can say that many of those concerns have gone away. UND going 7-3 with two good wins against Wyoming and Eastern Michigan will go along way to settle down the frustrations. The Eastern Michigan one had to be satisfying for the players from Michigan and for coach Motherwell.
If there was one blip during the non-conference, it was the Montana trip. Those were two tough losses that could have gone the other way. Whether it was turnover issue (Montana State) or a team just going insane from 3 (Montana), it prevented UND from going from 8-2 or even 9-1 in non-conference play that could have made this even more successful.
Overall however, there was much to like for UND and compared to last year, they are already ahead of their record from last year (7-3 vs 6-6).
2. Kacie Borowicz is playing like a potential Summit League Player of the Year.
Last year, a fully healthy Kacie showed that she was one of the better guards in the conference, earning 1st team all-Summit League honors. It allowed UND fans to wonder what she could do potentially for an encore.
So far, it has been more of the same for Kacie, nearly automatic from the free throw line, a deadly midrange pull up game and driving to the basket and the ability to be a playmaker from the 2 guard position. She currently leads the conference in points (21.5 ppg) and in assists (4.8 apg). She also recently became the 37th player in UND history to cross 1000 career points. She already has 2 30+ scoring nights (35 at Montana and 34 at Eastern Michigan).
As conference season starts, she certainly has made a case to be on the short list as Summit League Player of the Year. If she can continue this strong play (and this is with her not shooting the greatest from the 3 point line so far) and can take UND into the top 3 of the conference, there isn’t any reason why she can’t become UNDs first confernece POY winner since 2014 (Madi Buck).
3. UND is playing some tough defense
If there was one spot in the non-conference season where UND has improved the most, it has to start on the defensive side of the basketball. The biggest difference from a year ago is that UND is turning teams over at a much higher rate. Last year, UND forced an average of 13 turnovers a game. So far, they lead the conference in forced turnovers with 20.6 turnovers a game. The full court press that they have added in this year has really made a difference when they have put it on. UND currently has 4 players who are in the top 25 in steals in the conference in Daninger (7th), Orth (18th), Hoskin (21st), and Gordon (22nd). In addtion to all of these forced turnovers, UND has done a great job in holding down the opposing team in scoring (2nd in the Summit giving up 63 ppg), field goal percentage (1st in the Summit with allowing teams to shoot 36.6% from the field), and 3 point defense (3rd in the conference with allowing teams to shoot 30.9% from the field). The biggest surprise to me: UND actually leads the conference in rebounding with 40.7 rebounds per game. Despite not having the size that UND is used to having, they are managing to hold their own on the rebounding battle.
4. Juliet Gordon playing well after missing last year.
It has been a tough career so far at UND for the Aussie Forward. Her 2019-2020 and 21-22 seasons were wiped out due to injury.
In addition to coming off of an injury, she has been tasked to replace the production of not only the graduating Melissa Leet but the transfer of Olivia Lane.
In the non-conference part of the schedule, it has been so far so good. She has provided UND some production in the post for UND. She has had 5 straight games of double figure scoring and despite being a little undersized for the position, she is tied with Daninger for the team lead in rebounds with 6.2 rebounds a game. In addition, she has show her abilitiy to knock down shots from the line and also isn’t afraid to step out and nail a few 3s to stretch the defense out.
It has been a great story for UND this season and hope for continued success for Juliet.
Best of the Non-Conference:
Best Win: at Home Verses Wyoming
Could have gone with the comeback win against a undefeated Eastern Michigan team, but taking down a team that was predicted to finish towards the top of the Mountain West was too good to pass up. UND lead for most of the game and used a big last 5 minutes to put the game away. Did an excellent job in rebounding against a taller Wyoming lineup and limited the turnovers.
Team MVP: Kacie Borowicz
Borowicz continued to build off of a great last season by leading the conference currently in scoring and in rebounding.
Best Moment: Coach Bernhard adding to her family
During this busy non-conference season, Coach Mallory Bernhard gave birth to a baby girl in late November. Congrats to coach and your wonderful family!
Questions going into the Conference Season:
- Secondary Scoring?
We all know the firepower that Borowicz brings to UND and while she is certainly capable of winning a game all by herself, if UND wants to be a team that is in contention of making a deep run in Sioux Falls, the secondary scoring needs to be there. Orth, Gordon, and Daninger are definitely capable of leading that charge and have shown they can carry the load. If Hoskins can start knocking down those mid-range/outside shots, that would give UND another secondary scoring weapon.
However, I think the best scoring option behind Borowicz is still figuring out the college game: Nakiyah Hurst. This young freshman has all the skills to be a force on the offensive side of the basketball and has certainly started show more and more of that lately. When that lightbulb starts to click for her, it could provide UND that second go-to scorer that could mean the difference between a good season and a great season.
2. Will the losing streaks against the other Dakota Schools finally come to an end?
If UND is going to challenge for a top 3 spot this year, the finally need to end these long losing streaks against SDSU, NDSU, and USD. Since joining the Summit League in 2018, UND’s record are the following
NDSU 1-7 (lost 6 in a row)
SDSU 0-9
USD 0-8
This is a 1-24 record against these 3 schools. While ending the SDSU one might be difficult this season, the other two need to seriously change, especially to the in-state rival NDSU. These games will go a long way for UND and potentially getting a 2/3 seed in Sioux Falls verses a 4/5/6 seed. UND cannot go 0-6 again. It is time.
3. Can UND take care of the basketball?
This has been something that always seems to be with the program, turning the ball over. While there has been some solid play in that department, there have been moments where the old bug-a-boo has come back to bite them. The good news is that the team has been able to combat the issue by forcing turnovers themselves, but if there comes a time where they are not able to force as many turnovers, they need to be able to take care of the ball. Can they show this in conference play? Well they will be given an early test with UST and WIU coming to town.
The conference season starts Monday at home against an improved St. Thomas team and then Wednesday against a tough Western Illinois squad. These are going to be two tough games to start conference season with but if UND is going to accomplish all of their goals this year, then getting off to a good start is important and coming away with two wins at home is important. Last year, they started conference season at 0-3 and was bascially digging themselves out of that hole.
As usual, I am STOKED for the conference season to begin. There is a path for this team to get to Tuesday Afternoon in Sioux Falls and they certainly can get there. Let’s get the conference season started!