GAME 30
No. 1 North Dakota (19-10, 9-1 GWC)
vs.
No. 4 Texas-Pan American (13-16, 5-5 GWC)

DATE | TIME: Friday, March 9, 2012 | 7:30 p.m.
SITE: Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center | Chicago, Ill.
RADIO: KSNR 100.3 FM (CatCountry)
TV: None
WEB AUDIO: www.FightingSioux.com
WEB VIDEO: www.FightingSioux.com | www.GreatWestConference.org
LIVE STATS: www.Fighting Sioux.com | www.GreatWestConference.org
LIVE CHAT: www.FightingSioux.com
TWITTER: UNDWBasketball

CATCH THE LIVE ACTION: Select North Dakota women's basketball games - home and away - can be heard live on CatCountry 100.3 FM, The Fan 1440 AM and on stations across the UND Radio Network with Paul Ralston handling the play-by-play ... The radio broadcast can also be accessed via a live audiocast on FightingSioux.com (Check the website for schedule changes and updates) ... Links for live stats, a live radio audiocast, live chat, and streaming video can be found on the Official Site of North Dakota athletics, FightingSioux.com.

FOLLOW NORTH DAKOTA ON IHEART RADIO: Take North Dakota women's basketball with you wherever you go with KSNR 100.3 FM (CatCountry) on the iheartradio app. Download it to your computer or your smart phone.

OPENING TIP: The top-seeded University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux women's basketball team, who received a first-round bye, will kickoff the 2011-12 Great West Conference Tournament this evening with a 7:30 p.m. semifinal tip against the fourth-seeded Texas-Pan American Broncs ... This will mark the first meeting between the Sioux and the Broncs outside of the regular season and the 10th meeting overall. 

SERIES HISTORY ... GREAT WEST CONFERENCE

• Overall: UND leads 31-8
• Home: UND leads 14-3
• Away: UND leads 14-4
• Neutral: UND leads 3-1
• North Dakota officially opened Great West Conference play with an 84-71 win over Utah Valley on Jan. 14, 2010 in Orem, Utah.
• In that first year in the GWC, UND won the regular season title with a record of 11-1. The only loss came against former GWC member South Dakota.
• North Dakota is currently on a nine-game winning streak against Great West Conference opponents.
• Most points scored: 104 (1/29/11 vs. HBU; W, 104-54)
• Fewest points scored: 53 (2/5/11 at USD; L, 53-69)
• Most points allowed: 78 (2/12/11 at CSU; L, 57-78)
• Fewest points allowed: 34 (2/2/12 vs. HBU; W, 93-34)
• Largest margin of victory: +59 (2/2/12 vs. HBU; W, 93-34)
• Smallest margin of victory: +2 (2/23/12 at UTPA; W, 60-58)
• Largest margin of defeat: -21 (2/12/11 at CSU; L, 57-78)
• Smallest margin of defeat: -4 (1/21/12 vs. UVU; L, 54-58)  

SERIES HISTORY ... GREAT WEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

• Overall: 3-2USD: 1-0 (W, 70-60 - 2nd round - 3/12/10)
• UVU: 0-1 (L, 70-62 - Championship - 3/13/10)
• NJIT: 1-0 (W, 83-56 - 1st round - 3/9/11)
• HBU: 1-0 (W, 82-41 - 2nd round - 3/10/11)
• CSU: 0-1 (L, 74-66 - Championship - 3/12/11)
• UTPA: 0-0

SERIES HISTORY ... TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN

• Overall: UND leads 5-1
• Grand Forks: UND leads 3-0
• Edinburg: UND leads 2-1
• North Dakota opened the series with Texas-Pan American with a 63-47 win in Edinburg, Texas, on Jan. 28, 2010.
• The only loss to Texas-Pan American came on March 5, 2011 when the Broncs held on for a 69-62 victory on their home court.

NOTING TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN (13-16, 5-5 GWC): The fourth-seeded Broncs earned a trip to the semifinals after holding off host Chicago State for a 57-51 victory in Friday night's first-round game ... It marked the program's first-ever win over the Cougars in the Great West Tournament ... This is the second time in three years that the Broncs have made it to the semifinals ... Keandra Goodson led the team with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double. She is averaging 6.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg, and is shooting 41. 2 percent from the field and 46 percent at the free throw line ... Texas-Pan American is playing without its leading scorer, Bianca Torre, who suffered a season-ending injury ... With Torre out, LaQuita Garner leads the team averaging 9.5 ppg ... Franchesca Simon is shooting 32.8 percent from three-point range and Garner is shooting 69.4 percent from the line ... Adanna Opara is averaging a team-high 6.6 rpg and has posted a team-best 30 blocked shots ... The Broncs are one win away from tying the program record for wins in a single season with 14. The Broncs have done it twice - 2004-05 (14-14) and 2008-09 (14-16) ... Picked to finish fourth in the 2011-12 Great West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, Texas-Pan American finished its 2010-11 campaign 13-17 over and 8-4 in the league to place fifth ... UTPA is coached by Denny Downing, who is in his third season at the helm of the Broncs.

LAST MEETING | FEB. 23 | SIOUX SURVIVE TO TALLY 60-58 WIN OVER UTPA: It came down to the final minute and a half, but the University of North Dakota survived the fight, tallying a close 60-58 Great West Conference win over Texas-Pan American and extending its winning streak to eight straight ... Trailing 55-48 with 2:03 on the clock, Bianca Torre drilled her second three-pointer of the night to pull the Broncs to within four. Junior guard Nicole Smart answered with a wide-open three of her own from the far side to move the margin back up to seven (58-51), but UTPA was quickly once again tight on the heels of the Sioux ... With another three and a pair from the line from Torre, the Broncs moved to within two (58-56) with 30 seconds on the clock. On the inbounds, a technical foul was called on UTPA's Adanna Opara as she reached over the line and tried to take the ball out of the hands of sophomore Madi Buck (Bismarck, N.D.). The foul sent Smart, the team and the Great West Conference leader from the free throw line, to the stripe. She hit both, giving UND the four-point lead with 19 seconds left to go ... Back with another chance on the inbounds, UND lost control of the ball, allowing LaQuita Garner to lay it in from the paint for two with six seconds left. The Broncs went man-to-man on the ensuing inbounds, but the Sioux were able to move the ball down court and hold on for the win ... A native of Ada, Minn., Smart led the Fighting Sioux with a career-high-tying 19 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field, including a three-pointer, and a perfect 6-for-6 showing at the line. She added three rebounds (all defensive), an assist, and a steal ... Sophomore forward Megan Lauck (Shoreview, Minn.) came away with nine points. Buck, sophomore Allyssa Wall (C, North Sioux City, S.D.) and senior Charnise Mothershed (G, Phoenix, Ariz.) finished with six apiece. Buck added a team-high eight rebounds (seven defensive) ... North Dakota shot 33.3 percent (19-for-57) from the field, 36.4 percent (4-for-11) from three-point range, and 64.3 percent (18-for-28) from the line. UND scored 20 points off of UTPA's 19 turnovers and won the rebounding battle 60-58 ... Torre led the Broncs with 11 points on 3-for-9 shooting from three-point range and a perfect 2-for-2 showing at the line. Opara and LaQuita Garner finished with 10 apiece ... Texas-Pan American shot 39.7 percent (23-for-58) from the field, 30 percent (6-for-20) at three-point range, and 75 percent (6-for-8) at the free throw line.  

MUTUAL OPPONENTS: North Dakota and Texas-Pan American have four mutual opponent on their schedules this season - Chicago State, NJIT, Utah Valley, and Houston Baptist.

NOTING NORTH DAKOTA (19-10, 9-1 GWC): North Dakota strides into the 2012 Great West Conference Women's Basketball Tournament holding a season- and a league-best 10-game winning streak ... With a near perfect 9-1 conference mark, UND earned its second GWC regular-season title in its three years as a member ... Last week, the Fighting Sioux worked their way to a 66-53 road victory over Utah Valley, splitting this season's series with the Wolverines ... Senior guard Charnise Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.) led the team with a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double, the first double-double of her career. She knocked in a season-high three three-pointers and shot a perfect 6-for-6 at the line. Mothershed leads the team averaging 3.0 apg and is shooting 36.8 percent from three-point range ... Centers Allyssa Wall (So.) and Emily Evers (RFr.) each brought down a team-best 11 rebounds ... Wall, who was named to the All-GWC First Team, ranks second in the league in scoring average (14.4 ppg) and field goal percentage (51.3) ... Evers, the recipient of the 2012 GWC Sixth Woman Award and a member of the All-Newcomer Team, is averaging 6.4 ppg and 4.7 rpg off the bench ... Overall, sophomore forward Madi Buck (Bismarck, N.D.) leads the team with 10.3 ppg and 7.5 rpg ... Junior guard Nicole Smart (Ada, Minn.), who was earned All-GWC second team honors, is shooting a league- and team-best 88.4 percent from the free throw line and is averaging 9.0 ppg ... True freshman guard Brianna Williams (Minneapolis, Minn.) leads the team with 1.8 spg and senior guard Charnay Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.), who was named to the All-GWC Second Team, has dished out a team-high 3.0 apg ... Picked to win the regular season in this year's Great West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, North Dakota finished the 2010-11 season 15-16 overall and 8-4 in the Great West Conference to place third ... UND went 2-1 in the GWC Tournament to place second ... North Dakota is coached by two-time Great West Conference Coach of the Year Gene Roebuck, who is in his 25th and final season at the helm of the Fighting Sioux.

ONE WIN AWAY: The Fighting Sioux are just one victory away from hitting the 20-win mark for the first time since starting the transition to NCAA Division I status ... North Dakota finished the 2009-10 season 18-11 and the 2010-11 season 15-16. 

TOP OF THE CLASS: As a team, North Dakota leads the Great West in 15 statistical categories ... In the remaining six, the Sioux are ranked second. 

MARCH 7 | ROEBUCK EARNS SECOND GREAT WEST COACH OF THE YEAR HONOR: University of North Dakota head women's basketball coach Gene Roebuck was named the 2011-12 Great West Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year as announced at the GWC Tournament banquet. In addition, redshirt freshman center Emily Evers received the Great West Conference Sixth Woman Award and was named to the All-Newcomer Team, and three Sioux (Allyssa Wall, 1st; Charnay Mothershed, 2nd; Nicole Smart, 2nd) were named all-conference. 

MARCH 5 | CHARNISE MOTHERSHED CLAIMS COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS WEEKLY HONORS: After leading the North Dakota women's basketball team to a 66-53 road victory over Utah Valley with her first-career double-double, senior Charnise Mothershed was named this week's College Sports Madness Great West Conference Player of the Week ... It marked the fourth time in five weeks that a Fighting Sioux had earned the weekly honor and the first for Mothershed ... A native of Phoenix, Ariz., Mothershed shot a near perfect 3-for-4 from three-point range and went an unblemished 6-for-6 at the free throw line to finish with a career-high 15 points. The 5-7 guard completed the double-double with 10 rebounds (seven defensive), marking just the second time in her career that she has pulled down double-digit boards ... Mothershed's first three-pointer of the night (11:18) opened UND's game changing 18-3 first-half run. A perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc in the second half, she opened and closed an 8-2 UND run. 

FLAWLESS FEBRUARY: Following a 5-2 start to the year, the Fighting Sioux went a perfect 8-0 through the month of February, leading them to a second Great West Conference regular-season title in three years ... When the Sioux won the inaugural regular-season title in 2008-09, they also went undefeated in February, posting a record of 6-0.

ACCORDING TO THE NCAA: According to the March 5 NCAA Division I women's basketball RPI, the University of North Dakota women's basketball team has jumped up from No. 225 to No. 211 on the list of 342 schools.

• North Dakota remains as the top-ranked school in the Great West and is the only GWC member listed on the top 250.
• At No. 64, South Dakota State leads the Dakota schools.
• South Dakota is ranked No. 87 and North Dakota State sits at No. 253.  

CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENDANCE PLEASE: According to the March 5 release of the NCAA Division I women's basketball national attendance rankings, the University of North Dakota women's basketball team is ranked No. 89 out of 342 total schools, averaging 1,608 fans/game.

• North Dakota is the top-ranked team in the Great West and sits only behind Montana (No. 39; 2, 896) among current members of the Big Sky Conference.
• At No. 58, South Dakota State leads the Dakota schools, averaging 2,403 fans.
• South Dakota is ranked No. 111 (1,224) and North Dakota State is ranked No. 164 (866). 

OH, WON'T YOU START ME UP: Through 29 games, North Dakota's starters are leading opponent starters 1,205-1,172 (41.1-40.8) ... UND's starters are out-shooting opponent starters 39.2-36.0 percent from the field, 33.6-29.5 percent at three-point range, and 80.9-70.8 at the free throw line ... UND's starters are winning the rebounding battle 700-592 (24.1-20.4) ... Sophomore forward Madi Buck (Bismarck, N.D.) leads the team averaging 10.8 ppg and 8.1 rpg.

TIPPING OFF THE GREAT WEST: Through 10 regular-season Great West Conference games, North Dakota's starters are leading the opposing GWC starters 470-325 (47.0-32.5) ... UND's starters are out-shooting GWC starters 41.5-30.0 percent from the field, 35.7-26.1 percent at three-point range, and 80.5-68.8 at the free throw line ... UND's starters are winning the rebounding battle 255-210 (25.5-21.0) ... Sophomore center Allyssa Wall (North Sioux City, S.D.) leads the UND starters averaging 14.4 ppg and 7.6 rpg

BENCH MARKS: Through 29 games, the North Dakota bench has combined for 715 points - Creighton 18, Idaho 36, Duquesne 24, Southern Utah 23, New Mexico State 26, Drake 12, Montana State 9, Colorado State 21, Missouri 23, Northern Iowa 29, Bemidji State 41, Montana State 33, Idaho 25, Montana 18, Idaho 37, Air Force 24, Jamestown 22, Harvard 19, Utah Valley 19, NJIT 12, Chicago State 29, Houston Baptist 34, Texas-Pan American 35, Chicago State 41, NJIT 23, Mayville State 32, Texas-Pan American 21, Houston Baptist 16, Utah Valley 13 ... That's 37.9 percent of the team's 1,920 total points. 

RECORD REWIND: The University of North Dakota women's basketball program holds a 802-306 (.724) record all-time since the first game wa s played in 1974. Under head coach Gene Roebuck, UND is 626-144 (.813).

PROTECT AND SERVE: All-time, North Dakota is 437-87 (.834) when it comes to defending their own court and are 341-43 (.888) under the tutelage of Gene Roebuck.

LET'S GET BETTY TO RUMBLE: North Dakota is 103-18 (.851) all-time at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, which opened prior to the 2004-05 season.

Season records at 'The Betty'

• 2004-05 -------------------- 13-2
• 2005-06 -------------------- 19-1
• 2006-07 -------------------- 17-2
• 2007-08 -------------------- 14-1
• 2008-09 -------------------- 13-0
• 2009-10 -------------------- 8-4
• 2010-11 -------------------- 9-5
• 2011-12 -------------------- 10-3

1,100TH GAME FOR NORTH DAKOTA: When North Dakota and Chicago State tipped off on Saturday afternoon in Chicago, it marked the 1,100th game for the University of North Dakota women's basketball program ... Since the first official game was played on Dec. 8, 1975, UND has gone 434-87 at home, 289-162 on the road and 75-44 on neutral ground.

LAST TIME OUT | MARCH 3 | MOTHERSHED'S DOUBLE-DOUBLE LEADS UND TO VICTORY: Led by a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double from senior guard Charnise Mothershed, the first of her career, the University of North Dakota pulled out a 66-53 road victory over Utah Valley in the 2011-12 regular-season finale at the UCCU Center ... It was a game played out from the stripe as the teams combined for 55 shots from the free throw line. Forty-two of those shots were taken in the second half alone ... North Dakota shot a near-perfect 25-for-27 (92.6 percent) from the free throw line while Utah Valley went 21-for-28 (75 percent) ... A native of Phoenix, Ariz., Mothershed drilled a trio of big three-pointers for UND, and went an unblemished 6-for-6 at the free throw line to net a season-high 15 points. On the boards, she was one of three Sioux to pull down double-figure boards, finishing the day with 11 rebounds (seven defensive) after recording just three in the opening half ... Playing without sophomore forward Katie Houdek (Grafton, N.D.), centers Emily Evers (RFr., Grand Forks, N.D.) and Allyssa Wall (So., North Sioux City, S.D.) had to put in a few extra minutes on the court. Both used those minutes wisely, registering 11 rebounds and two blocks apiece. Wall added nine points to the books and Evers added two ... Also hitting double-figures was senior guard Charnay Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.) and sophomore forward Megan Lauck (Shoreview, Minn.). Mothershed went 5-for-14 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 at the line for 14 points, and Lauck hit 3-for-5 from the field and 5-for-6 at the stripe for 11 points ... Utah Valley was led by Jenna Johnson, who finished with 15 points. After hitting her third field goal of the night, she became just the fourth Wolverines to score 1,000 points since UVU moved to Division I ... North Dakota shot 31.1 percent (19-for-61) from the field while holding the Wolverines to 21.7 percent (15-for-69). Both teams struggled from three-point range. UND finished 3-for-17 (17.6 percent) and UVU went 1-for-12 (16.7 percent).

Click the PDF link above to view the complete game notes release ...

- Go Sioux -