UND wins its sixth straight as the Hawks down Kansas City 78-66
Jan. 22—GRAND FORKS — It's been a while since there has been some electricity in the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
But the energy returned Saturday, producing an atmosphere that hasn't been witnessed at a UND women's basketball game for a number of years.
And UND basketball — for now — has returned as well, evidenced by the Hawks' entertaining 78-66 win over Kansas City before 1,579 fans. It was UND's sixth-straight win and improved the Hawks' to 6-3 in the Summit League and 12-8 overall. UND's surge may be surprising, considering the program went 2-19 last year and was picked ninth in this season's preseason poll.
Now, UND sits in third place and has a major opportunity ahead as the Hawks host the two Summit powers of the past decade next week — South Dakota State and South Dakota.
"The Betty was awesome today," said UND's Maggie Manson, whose timely 3-pointers held off the first of two Kansas City second-half surges. "We all ran to the locker room and we all said how much fun we had in that game."
UND has found different ways to win during its streak. Against Kansas City, UND somehow had to figure out how to play large chunks of minutes without its frontcourt. Both Melissa Leet and Olivia Lane battled foul trouble starting in the first half.
But timely outside shooting, some inspired play by reserves and another monster game from Kacie Borowicz kept the win streak intact.
Borowicz finished with 27 points and scored UND's final seven points after the Roos closed to within 71-66 with 4:50 to go.
Leet finished with 16 points while Manson and Claire Orth ended with 13 and 10, respectively.
The Hawks led 49-33 early in the third quarter before the Roos — led by Kiara Bradley's 17 points — went on a 13-2 run to cut UND's lead to six. Manson then led UND on a run with her back-to-pack three-pointers for a 63-51 advantage in the final minute of the third quarter. That UND run came after the Roos closed to within 54-51 late in the third quarter.
But the Roos (3-4,13-5) had one final surge in the fourth quarter before Borowicz dominated the final minutes.
"We had a little better composure in this game," said Borowicz. "A lot of times we've struggled in the fourth quarter a little bit. Sometimes, we didn't know how aggressive to be on offense or how much to pull it back. So I think we were a little bit better with that today."
Statistically, the Hawks were solid again — shooting 49 percent, outrebounding the Roos 38-36 and finishing with 16 assists on 27 field goals.
Those statistics could be linked to confidence, which UND has had during its streak.
"From the opening tip, you saw both teams bring absolutely everything they had," said UND coach Mallory Bernhard. "Kansas City is an incredible team. That's not an easy team to beat. They're going to beat a lot of teams in this league. For us to get this win is absolutely huge.
"We had a lot of composure, and you have to have that especially when they made those runs. We answered back and I'm so happy and proud of this team to be able to keep their heads and have the confidence we needed.
"We've been in these situations all year long and know how to manage them."
The Hawks also received a big lift from reserve Sammiyah Hoskin, a natural guard who was forced to play 26 minutes inside against the Roos' front line because of UND's foul trouble. She finished with a team-high nine rebounds and five assists. And she also came up big defensively a few times as well.
UND now will play perhaps its most meaningful games as a member of the Summit.
South Dakota State and South Dakota have run over most league teams the past few seasons. UND's win streak will face a major test Thursday against SDSU and Saturday against South Dakota.
"It was so much fun in the Betty today," said Orth, the most experienced of UND players. "We displayed such team basketball today. It makes it fun and you just get hyped for your teammates."
