The Omaha Mavericks defeated the North Dakota Fighting Hawks 84-81, marking the third upset in the Summit League Quarterfinals this weekend.
The first quarter of play was fast and furious. Omaha’s Kennedi Grant led all scorers with seven, while Kacie Borowicz led North Dakota with five. The teams found themselves knotted at 15 after the first.
The scoring ramped up another level in the second frame, as both teams more than doubled their first quarter scores. Omaha had a bit more control than UND though, scoring 11 points off turnovers and hauling in defensive rebounds. Omaha out-rebounded UND 20-15 overall and 14-10 defensively in the first half. Even so, it was a tight race as the Mavericks led 36-33 at the break.
Elena Pilakouta’s put-back was the first bucket out of the break and the only bucket in the first two minutes of the third quarter. UND committed two turnovers in the first three minutes. The Third quarter was basket-for-basket with Omaha maintaining its lead. Pilakouta and Grant combined for 15 points in the third, while North Dakota 10 points out of Borowicz. At the end of the third, Browowicz led all scorers with 18.
The final frame was heavy back-and-forth basketball. Chaos ensued in the final minute, but Katie Kietges drained two crucial foul shots to give the Mavs a five point lead. Borowicz answered on the other end, but the Mavs pulled it out, 84-81.
Omaha was led by Kennedi Grant’s 18 points. Elena Pilakouta and Aaliyah Stanley added 14 points apiece, and Pilakouta double-doubled with 12 rebounds. Keitges added four steals to the nine total for Omaha.
Carrie Banks knows that the teams are stacked in the league and was happy with Omaha’s offensive performance.
“Not knowing what’s going to happen from game to game. It’s a really exciting time to be in the summit league. Another point of emphasis for us was that people pay a lot of attention to Elena, so challenging our guards to step up. We knew in the second half we needed to control the pace of the game, because we knew Borowicz would take over.”
Elena Pilakouta was also pleased.
“I don’t want to just talk about myself. I think my team has shown a lot of patience from last year to this year. It’s good to see our work pay off in March.”
Omaha will face No. 10 Kansas City in Monday’s semifinal at 3 p.m.
Kacie Borowicz dropped 36 points for UND, while Claire Orth and Juliet Gordon netted 11 apiece, with Gordon grabbing 10 boards to earn the double-double.
Head Coach Mallory Bernhard felt really prepared, but ultimately ended up disappointed. ““Progress is great, but at the end of the day you have to get yourself ready to go down here in Sioux Falls. This team, they’re still hungry. We pray that there is an opportunity for us to keep going. They aren’t ready for the season to be done.”
North Dakota finishes the season 18-10 overall, and 11-7 in the conference.