GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The University of North Dakota coasts past Minnesota Morris 97-55 on Saturday afternoon. The Fighting Hawks had all players score points against the Cougars.
Olivia Lane ended the game as the offensive leader for the Hawks. She finished the game with a new single game high of 22 points. On top of her 22 points, O. Lane had six rebounds and three steals.
Kacie Borowicz ended the evening with a double-double. She had 16 points and had a single game high with ten assists. Jodi Anderson, Claire Orth and Melissa Leet each had eight points for UND. Allie McCarthy led on the boards with nine rebounds followed by Sammiyah Hoskin with seven rebounds.
North Dakota finished shooting 44.8 percent from the floor, 20.0 percent from the three and 71.4 percent at the line. Minnesota Morris shot 35.4 percent from the floor, 21.1 percent from the three and 65.4 percent from the line.
UND held the lead from the beginning, and they also managed to maintain the advantage in points in the paint (44-20), points off turnovers (28-8), second chance points (26-7), fast break points (23-9), and points off the bench (38-20).
Leet won the initial tip, but it was O. Lane who would put the Fighting Hawks on the board with a layup on the first possession of the game. As the Cougars headed on offense, UND placed man-to-man pressure on their offense, which resulted in a rushed shot and miss. O. Lane would go down and score yet another layup for the Hawks. Minnesota Morris would respond to stop the run, but they could not adjust to O. Lane on offense, which allowed her to score the first five points of the match before Borowicz would step in and make a jumper. The Cougars would keep it within single digits until there was only 2:27 left in the quarter, which is when O. Lane hit jump shot to place the Hawks up by eleven. After that shot, she went on another five-point scoring streak before Borowicz was fouled and scored two from the line. North Dakota held their longest run of the game (9-0) at 1:45 in the quarter and ended it up by 13 (29-16).
The scoring started late for both teams in the second quarter. Only one point was scored by the Fighting Hawks until 7:55 when Joli Daninger scored a jumper, which the Cougars then responded to with a jumper of their own. North Dakota went on a 5-0 run before Minnesota Morris would score two. The rest of the quarter was a back-and-forth battle. Erika Lane stepped into the game for the Fighting Hawks and scored the final two of the quarter put UND up 50-26 as they headed into the intermission.
The Fighting Hawks continued to be the first on the board at the beginning of the third with a deep jumper from Maggie Manson. The Cougars would try to shorten the lead, but seven different Fighting Hawks would score in the third to extend the lead. By the end of the third, North Dakota was up by 30 (73-43).
The fourth quarter would hold much of the same as the third. North Dakota had eight different players score and add to the lead. Allie McCarthy had her first two points of the match in the fourth, and she was joined by Carlee Sieben who had all seven of her points in the last 1:21 of the game. Those seven points would be the final of the match and would give the Fighting Hawks the 97-55 win.
Lexus Eagle Chasing was the top scorer for the Cougars. She ended the afternoon with 14 points and two steals. Malory Anderson was their leader on the boards with seven rebounds.
The Fighting Hawks will head to Milwaukee next Saturday, Dec. 11 to face the Marquette Golden Eagler. Opening tip is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Game Recap: Women’s Basketball | 12/4/2021 4:19:00 PM | Candy Jimenez-Caballero, FightingHawks.com
