Even though the score would look a bit lopsided toward the end of the game, Coach Mallory Bernhard thought that North Dakota's win over Dickinson State was as hard-fought as a victory over any D1 team.
UND defeated Dickinson 77-58 in the Bismarck Event Center in the back half of the Capital City Classic. The Fighting Hawks overcame a five-point deficit in the second quarter to walk away with the victory and move to 2-0 on the season.
“It was a battle,” Bernhard said. “It was a game that we did not feel like there was a second we could relax.”
UND opened the scoring in the first quarter, Walker Demers walked it in to give the Fighting Hawks an early lead. Quickly the Fighting Hawks were able to build up a 7-0 lead with Kiera Pemberton scoring and Jayla Owens potting a three. Tayte Kohn finally got Dickinson State on the board, tipping in a miss by J'ell Garfield with 5:42 to go in the opening quarter.
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From there, the Blue Hawks were able to come back and gain a small lead, ending the first quarter up by one, 16-15.
“It was offensive rebounds. We were giving up a ton of O-boards, giving them second, third opportunities, and just not securing the ball the way we needed to,” Bernhard said. “Just cleaning up some of those things, and we could potentially stop a couple of those runs that they made.”
Early in the second quarter, Dickinson built up its lead, stretching it to 22-16.
“They just continued to bring it to us all night,” Bernhard said. “They hit some huge shots. They crashed the boards incredibly hard. They made things difficult for us.”
UND did not roll over, instead with some help from some sunk free throws, scoring from Mikayla Aumer and Owens, two threes from freshman Jocelyn Schiller, they battled back. UND took over the lead and finished the first half of play up 33-28.
“This was a good game, just to see we had to fight,” Schiller, a Grand Forks Red River graduate, said. “We knew we had to stay together, not fracture away from each other, and just rely on what we've been talking about in practice.”
Schiller scored a game-high three three-pointers in UND’s victory over the Blue Hawks, and she credited them to her teammates’ ability to move the ball around.
“We're moving the ball around,” Schiller said. “I think when we do that, then we can get open shots, and I was just able to knock them down today.”
The Fighting Hawks shot 12-25 from the field, 3-11 for the three, and were 6-7 from the free throw line to finish the first half. They led Dickinson State in rebounds (22-20), field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, and free throws. However, they had more turnovers than Dickinson State and fewer steals and blocks.
Turnovers was an area that UND cleaned up in the second half, only turning the ball over four times.
“We did do a heck of a better job,” Bernhard said. “It was a little bit in the first half, just forcing some stuff, trying to maybe make some plays when really there wasn't a play to be made there. So that's where just looking for a better shot, looking for a better opportunity, playing together, something will present itself.”
On the flip side, Dickinson had 13 turnovers in the second half. Bernhard said that was a result of her team’s hard-working mentality.
“We are not really a creating-turnovers kind of team,” Bernhard said. “But we are trying to be an incredibly hard-working team. So when there is a loose ball, when we get that ball poked free, somehow we want to be the first to the floor.”
Aumer opened up the second half with a two and a three to put UND up 38-29. Then Dickinson State's Katherine Fox, a Bismarck State alum, made a three-pointer to chip away at UND’s lead. But Aumer replied with a three of her own. That combined with scoring from Pemberton and Rakiyah Beal helped boost UND to a 10-point lead over the Blue Hawks.
Kayden Steele made a three for Dickinson and just like in the beginning of the quarter, UND responded in kind, with Schiller making her third three-pointer of the night. That combined with another two free throws from Pemberton put UND up by 12.
Free throws were a critical part of UND’s success in Tuesday night’s game. UND went 20-25 from the line. Aumer lead the team going 7-8 from the line.
It was a much-needed refresh for a team that struggled from the line in their last game.
“We did not shoot particularly well from the free throw line on Friday. So it was really nice to see our team step up to the line confidently,” Bernhard said. “Close games are won by rebounding and free throws, and so it was nice to see us hit things.”
Aumer gave credit to the team for their success at drawing fouls and for the success found on the free throw line.
“It all comes once the team starts working together,” Aumer said. “Because once we start working together, driving lanes open up, everything starts to open up offensively, and that's how you get those drives.”
The Fighting Hawks would go on to score 25 points in the fourth quarter. They shot 25-56 from the field for the game and went 7-22 on three-pointers. UND also finished with 39 rebounds and 9 steals. Aumer led the team with 19 points and Pemberton was a close second with 17 points.
It was a solid win for the young UND squad and for a team that faced adversity the year before.
“Luckily enough we're learning lessons while we're winning games. That's something we obviously have talked about a lot. But we just got to continue to build,” Aumer said. “We got to continue to work. The best teams don't even think they're necessarily the best teams, the best teams think they have to continue to work, and that's what we need to do.”
The UND women’s basketball team will play their next two games at home facing off against Wisconsin-Green Bay on Sunday at 2 p.m. and Montana next Thursday, Nov. 21 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks.
Doubleheader: Kansas vs. Michigan State & Duke vs. Kentucky. Cooper Flagg leads the favored Duke in this matchup and potentially to the Final Four later on.