Feb. 1—GRAND FORKS — Sunday afternoon's matchup at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center was the third game in as many days for Bismarck State, and the third in four for UND.
In a contest between two fatigued teams, the Mystics took charge early.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Fighting Hawks, hot off an emotional win over
Denver on Saturday
, were forced to buckle down after the sloppy start and finally created some distance in the fourth quarter.
Though the Mystics stuck around to the very end, the Hawks kept the visitors at bay and hung on for an 89-80 win.
"Bismarck came out ready to battle right away," freshman guard Lauren Hillesheim said. "They came up, knocked some great shots down, and we started off slow and just being able to come back and seal the deal was important for us. It was hard for both of us, coming off of games in the past couple days, but it was definitely important that we had people also on our end making some good shots, so just being able to come up with the win was good."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Mystics were intent on scoring from 3-point range from the jump. Bismarck State shot 10-for-23 from beyond the arc in the first half and went into the locker room trailing 44-41.
Graduate guard Mackenzie Hughes helped keep the Hawks afloat in the third quarter as the Mystics battled to regain momentum. She scored seven points in the frame and ended the night with a team-high 23, shooting 9-for-16.
Hughes has scored at least 13 points in four of her last five games.
"Kenzie is kind of our spark plug, we do play through her," UND coach Dennis Hutter said. "She did have six assists tonight as well. When you say play through her, it's not that she shoots it, you play through her in the fact that she's going to create shots for people, opportunities for people at the rim, things like that."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSenior guard Kennedy Stormer played the role of Hughes for Bismarck State. She shot 10-for-20 from the field, scored 31 points and tallied 10 assists.
"(Stormer) and Kenzie look very similar on the floor," Hutter said. "Not maybe exactly the way they play, but their mentality. You can see that they are not afraid to say, 'Get on my back, hey, let me try to carry the team here a little bit,' play through them a little bit more. She's a good player, obviously, coach's kid, she's got a lot of toughness to her, she leads that group. I think they play the way she plays — hard, gritty, tough."
As the fourth quarter rolled around, though, the Mystics found fewer opportunities to shoot the three. They were still 6-for-15 from 3-point range in the second half, but they failed to make one in the final five minutes.
"We started the game off and they hit (threes) from right out of the gate," Hillesheim said. "Throughout the whole game they were shooting heavy from three. ... (In the second half) we tried to switch our defense. We guarded a little differently, and I think that limited them a little bit more."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThough Hughes led the way, Sunday's victory featured multiple contributors on offense while missing senior center Walker Demers due to illness.
Senior guard Mikayla Aumer scored 12 points coming off the bench, all of which came in the second half. She scored five points as UND opened the fourth quarter with a 9-4 run, extending its lead to 10.
Freshman guard London Harris, sophomore forward Ava Miller, Hillesheim, Aumer and Hughes all scored 10 or more points.
"I think it's important that we look to different plays for different things," Hillesheim said. "With Walker being out, we went smaller. But just to have different people shooting the ball, attacking the basket, is very important. I think that we've grown throughout the season and been able to see those things recently more than before."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementUND ends its three-game home stretch with a 2-1 record and improved to 6-17 overall and 2-7 in conference play.
It was one of the Hawks' best offensive stretches of the season; they scored at least 73 points in all three contests and reached a season-high against Bismarck State.
Now, UND will head on the road for three straight games, starting with Omaha this Thursday.
"We're young, we have some immaturity," Hutter said when asked what he learned about his team over the last three games. "I don't mean that in a negative way. I just mean that when you have a young team you're going to get ebbs and flows. Like last night, you come off a really emotional win and you're trying to just make sure they show up the next day and perform mentally and prepare mentally the way they should. ... I've also learned that there's some toughness there.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"There is some toughness in this group. There's some kids on this team that really do want to compete at a high level and want to see this team do well. And (against Denver), for sure, you saw a couple kids got to will our team to win. I think tonight, you just saw again a little bit more of kids just kind of willing it to the finish line. So while I think we are maybe a little bit immature, we are showing that we can be a tough team, which I think will pay dividends for us down the stretch."
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