GREELEY, Colo.-- Madi Buck hauled-in 14 rebounds and added 10 points but it was not enough to overcome a 27-point effort from Northern Colorado's D'Shara Strange in a 53-41 UNC win Saturday afternoon in Big Sky Conference play. Strange poured-in 19 of her game-high points in the second stanza alone and added nine steals to her game total.
UND (4-6, 0-2 Big Sky), coming off a quick turnaround after a home game Thursday, got out to a good start holding the host Bears to 1-of-10 shooting the start the game and led 7-2 early. UND's defensive effort kept the Bears to just that single bucket until the 13:06 mark when Lauren Oosdyke's jumper sparked a quick 7-0 counterpunch by the Bears. The low-scoring first half saw five tie scores and a 6-0 UND run gave the visitors its largest lead with 2:44 to play in the period. From there, UNC (3-6, 1-0 Big Sky) scored the final six points of the half and got out to a 6-0 quick start in the second half to give the home team a half-dozen point advantage.
A Nicole Smart triple-- part of her team-high 12 points-- cut the deficit in half but UNC did not allow another UND field goal over the next six minutes. While the Bears didn't take control of the game during that UND dryspell, they would stretch their lead to 10 with 7:14 remaining. Strange generated nine points in a seven-minute span to help ice the game and give Northern Colorado its first win over UND since 2000, snapping a nine-game UND win streak in the series.
Strange's nine steals helped contribute to 33 North Dakota turnovers in the contest. UNC cashed-in for 25 points off of those miscues.
Buck finished with a stat line of 10 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals to lead UND's effort. Smart was the only other UND scorer with more than five points.
UND (4-6, 0-2 Big Sky) will play its final non-conference game in a week when it heads to Salt lake City, Utah to battle the University of Utah. Tip-time is slated for 4:00 p.m. Central.
Notes: Cy'erra Mills made her first career start Saturday ... UND leads the all-time series with Northern Colorado, 31-3 dating back to the NCAA Division II era ... Linda Sayavongchanh served as acting head coach in the stead of Travis Brewster, who was serving a Big Sky Conference suspension for comments made regarding officiaiting following Thursday's game.
UND (4-6, 0-2 Big Sky), coming off a quick turnaround after a home game Thursday, got out to a good start holding the host Bears to 1-of-10 shooting the start the game and led 7-2 early. UND's defensive effort kept the Bears to just that single bucket until the 13:06 mark when Lauren Oosdyke's jumper sparked a quick 7-0 counterpunch by the Bears. The low-scoring first half saw five tie scores and a 6-0 UND run gave the visitors its largest lead with 2:44 to play in the period. From there, UNC (3-6, 1-0 Big Sky) scored the final six points of the half and got out to a 6-0 quick start in the second half to give the home team a half-dozen point advantage.
A Nicole Smart triple-- part of her team-high 12 points-- cut the deficit in half but UNC did not allow another UND field goal over the next six minutes. While the Bears didn't take control of the game during that UND dryspell, they would stretch their lead to 10 with 7:14 remaining. Strange generated nine points in a seven-minute span to help ice the game and give Northern Colorado its first win over UND since 2000, snapping a nine-game UND win streak in the series.
Strange's nine steals helped contribute to 33 North Dakota turnovers in the contest. UNC cashed-in for 25 points off of those miscues.
Buck finished with a stat line of 10 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals to lead UND's effort. Smart was the only other UND scorer with more than five points.
UND (4-6, 0-2 Big Sky) will play its final non-conference game in a week when it heads to Salt lake City, Utah to battle the University of Utah. Tip-time is slated for 4:00 p.m. Central.
Notes: Cy'erra Mills made her first career start Saturday ... UND leads the all-time series with Northern Colorado, 31-3 dating back to the NCAA Division II era ... Linda Sayavongchanh served as acting head coach in the stead of Travis Brewster, who was serving a Big Sky Conference suspension for comments made regarding officiaiting following Thursday's game.
