OGDEN, Utah (January 19, 2017) – The North Dakota Fighting Hawks are hoping to be one of those teams that’s in it for the long haul, which means there will be adversity they have to fight through.
The Fighting Hawks did just that in a game at Weber State. After jumping out to a big lead over the Wildcats, Weber fought back to take a lead in the fourth quarter of a game the Fighting Hawks once dominated. However, North Dakota made the most of its final run, earning a
70-65 win over Weber State.
North Dakota dominated early, taking a 21-11 lead after the first period, shooting 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from the floor. Conversely, UND held Weber State to 21.4 percent shooting (3-of-14) in the opening period.
Fallyn Freije led all scorers in the game, chipping in 21 points for North Dakota. Weber State’s Kailie Quinn finished with 16 points.
Montana State 84, Sacramento State 80 – Montana State led wire-to-wire in a win over the Sacramento State Hornets, but that didn’t stop the Bobcats from getting a little nervous in the final minutes.
The final score was the slimmest margin of the game for MSU, who led by as many as 18 points midway through the third quarter. Indeed, physicality allowed the Bobcats to beat back one of #BigSkyWBB’s up-tempo, high-octane offenses, as Montana State outscored the Hornets in the paint (36-26) and rebounded them (53-39).
With a narrow 10-8 lead in the first quarter, Madeline Smith started a 17-5 Bobcat run, which gave Montana State a 27-15 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Bobcats would lead 49-35 at halftime.
A killer statistic for the Hornets was free-throw shooting, as Sacramento State made just 20-of-31 foul shots. Another killer statistic was courtesy of the game’s high scorer, Montana State’s Riley Nordgaard. Nordgaard finished with 26 points, making 8-of-14 shots from the field.
Gretchen Harrigan led Sacramento State with 19 points.
Northern Arizona 56, Eastern Washington 47 – A terrific defensive performance lifted Northern Arizona to its second conference win.
The Lumberjacks held Eastern Washington to just 26.8 percent shooting for the game (15-of-56), as EWU went 4-of-19 from three-point range. Neither team started well offensively, as Eastern Washington took a 10-4 lead out of the first quarter, and held a 20-18 lead at halftime.
However, in the second half, Northern Arizona erupted offensively, making 11-of-16 shots in the fourth quarter, while outscoring Eastern Washington 28-18. That success, coupled with the success of NAU’s bench (a 33-6 advantage over Eastern Washington’s), sent Northern Arizona to its first league win since a Dec. 31 win over Southern Utah.
Eastern Washington’s Delaney Hodgins led all scorers, with 20 points. Raina Perez led Northern Arizona with 15 points.
Idaho 85, Southern Utah 68 – An early run for the Southern Utah Thunderbirds turned into a rout by the Idaho Vandals, once the three-ball warmed up.
After trailing 17-11 after the first quarter, Idaho outscored Southern Utah the rest of the way, 74-51, while shooting 41.9 percent (18-of-43) from three-point range. Idaho’s Taylor Pierce rained down six three-point shots, on her way to scoring a game-high 25 points.
Southern Utah held a 31-18 lead with 4:33 left in the second quarter, after a Jamie Smith three-point shot, before Idaho closed the quarter on a 13-3 run. Then, the Vandals outscored Southern Utah in the second half, 54-34, to control the second half.
Smith led the Thunderbirds with 20 points, making all six of her field goals from behind the three-point line.
Northern Colorado 77, Idaho State 62 – The Northern Colorado Bears stayed undefeated in league play, moving to 7-0 after getting a road win over the Idaho State Bengals.
The Bears’ defense allowed UNC to keep a consistent edge, even when there were some offensive struggles of their own, throughout the game. Northern Colorado held Idaho State to 35 percent shooting on the night (21-of-60), while shooting 61 percent from three-point range (14-of-23), themselves.
Northern Colorado held a narrow 28-26 lead at halftime, before outscoring Idaho State in the second half, 49-37. Idaho State finished 1-of-5 in its last five trips down the floor.
Another outstanding performance was delivered by Northern Colorado’s Savannah Smith, who finished with 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Idaho State’s Bianca Thacker finished with 15 points.
Portland State 64, Montana 44 - The Portland State Vikings have officially doubled their conference win total from a season ago, controlling the middle part of the game to earn a road win over the Montana Lady Griz.
The Vikings beat up the Lady Griz in the paint, outscoring them 40-18, while outrebounding them, 44-32. Defensively, Portland State also dominated the second and third quarters, after holding a narrow 18-16 lead after the first quarter.
In the middle two quarters, Portland State outscored Montana, 30-16, while holding them to 17.6 percent shooting (6-of-34). For the game, the Vikings limited the Lady Griz to 27.4 percent shooting (17-of-62).
Courtney West led the Vikings with 18 points, while Michaela Kay chipped in 14 points. The Lady Griz had no double-digit scorers, but Taylor Goligowski finished with eight points.