"We didn't compete today and that is disappointing," said head coach Joan Bonvicini. "Tatiana (Heck) had a nice game, but North Dakota beat us in every fashion of the game."
Junior Heck (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.) had a standout game for the Redhawks, as she earned her first double-double of the year. It was a career evening for the center, as she established career highs in both points and rebounds, with 24 points and 13 boards. With the double-double, she is the second player this year to reach that feat. Heck also added an assist and a steal in 38 minutes of work.
The game quickly got off to a fast pace in the opening minutes of action, as both squads pushed the ball up and down the court continually and consistently. North Dakota's Mallory Youngblut took off and scored 10 of UND's early 12 points, but the Redhawks Maggie McCarthy (Burlingame, Calif.) hustled all over the floor to keep SU even paced with a hot firing Fighting Sioux. She moved all over the floor and grabbed down three rebounds in the first minutes of regulation to keep it a close contest.
Down by a basket with just under 14 minutes left in the first half, SeattleU had the chance to take their first lead of the game, but their shots were unable to land. UND took complete advantage of the struggling Redhawk offense and extended their lead to 18-10. After nearly seven scoreless minutes, Heck broke SU onto the board with a jumper down low.
Despite only being down by six points, UND controlled the tempo of play and forced SeattleU to fire off rushed shots. With each missed shot, SU struggled to regain their bearings and chop down North Dakota's slowly growing lead. After shooting 28 percent (7-for-25) from the field, the Redhawks went into halftime only down by eight points, 25-17.
With the game within reach, the Redhawks came out of the locker room a little sluggish. Elle Kerfoot (Surrey, B.C.) scored SU's first second half points off a pair of baskets from charity stripe a minute-and-a-half in, making it an 11 point contest. Despite their best efforts, SeattleU was unable to create solid momentum off Kerfoot's early points.
By 11:37 North Dakota's offense appeared to be in autopilot, as they were making their shots and their defense was continuing to force SU to run rushed unsuccessful offensive plays. Behind 25 points from Youngblut, the Fighting Sioux established as high as a 26 point lead in the second half that the Redhawks were unable to respond to.
The stymied SeattleU offense shot 29.2 percent (14-for-48) from the field, while North Dakota shot 36.5 percent (23-for-63). The Redhawks did keep pace with the Fighting Sioux in the rebounding category, as UND grabbed down 39 boards to SU's 37.
SeattleU will look rebound on Saturday, Feb. 20, when they host Cal State Bakersfield at 7 p.m. The game will also mark SU's annual Senior Day festivities.