Purdue Fort Wayne
North Dakota State
Bison Dominate Paint in 64-52 North Dakota State win
1/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2010
Fargo, ND –North Dakota State made just five baskets outside of the paint; however the host Bison were able to score 40 points inside the paint, and 13 more at the free throw line, as NDSU toppled the IPFW Mastodons 64-52 in Summit League action at the Bison Sports Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Anne Boese continued her strong outside shooting, as the sophomore made 5-of-9 three-point shots for a team-high 15 points, with Sydney Weinert making 5-of-6 shots from the field, scoring 14 points and pulling down nine rebounds en route to being named IPFW’s K Bergum Classic MVP.
Chelsey Jackson added a dozen points and dished out a game-high-tying four assists, as the trio of scorers were aided by Stephanie Rosado’s six and Jordan Zuppe’s five points. Sarah Haluska had two steals off of the bench, as Eva Ivanova picked up the team’s only blocked shot in the game.
“We finally got Sydney Weinert back on track,” said IPFW head coach Chris Paul. “The aggressiveness that she played with in the post and in rebounding is what has been lacking in the past few games. It was also good to get the minutes off of the bench from Sarah Haluska. I know that her stat line doesn’t show it, but she played hard, defended, and gave us a solid 27 minutes.”
The loss drops IPFW to 6-2 in league play, and into a virtual tie with UMKC, Oral Roberts, and South Dakota State battle, for the top spot in the league, with North Dakota State and Oakland game sitting one game behind in the standings.
“In order to win a conference championship, you have to fight through adversity on the road, and you have to learn how to bounce back,” commented Paul. “Teams are going to lose on the road. What we have to do is have a good practice tomorrow for a South Dakota State team that is going to want to prove that it is still their conference title to lose. I’m excited about that opportunity, and I hope our players will be too.”
IPFW reached the scoreboard first on a Chelsey Jackson lay-in, before NDSU ran off six straight points to take a 6-2 lead. The host Bison kept their lead for the majority of the first half, despite seeing their lead cut to zero after a 7-2 IPFW run tied the game at 14.
A quick 4-0 run put the Bison ahead by four before Boese went on her own personal 9-0 run, hitting a three-point basket in three straight possessions to turn the four-point IPFW deficit into a five-point, 23-18 IPFW lead.
The feisty Bison squad would not go quietly into halftime, as they fought back to take a one-point, 31-30 lead on an Ashley Samuelson three-point basket, before the 'Dons re-took the lead on a Weinert put-back to send IPFW into the locker room with a 32-31 lead.
IPFW kept their lead into the second half, and led by three at 40-37 following a Jackson three-point basket two and a half minutes into the period. NDSU followed by scoring six straight points, and then took a four-point lead on a Samuelson basket, giving the hosts a lead they would not give up for the remainder of the game.
The Mastodons trailed by three after a pair of Weinert free throws with 5:39 left on the clock; however, the IPFW offense would go cold for the remainder of the game, as the Mastodons scored just twice the rest of the way, as the Bison ended the game on a 13-4 run to claim the 64-52 Summit League victory.
Katie Birkel scored a game-high 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, as Samuelson scored 15 and Janae Burich 13.
“Tonight I told them exactly what I told them after the UMKC game,” noted Paul. “We’re not good enough to just show up. We have to do things right. There were a lot of times tonight where we called a play, and we didn’t execute. There were times that a shot went up, and we sprinted back on defense instead of attacking the glass. There were times where we got a little fatigued, but instead of sitting down and fighting through it defensively, we gave up offensive rebound put backs. Right now we have a program that is learning as it goes;, but the team needs to understand that you have to come to work every day. If you don’t come to work, you get beat.”
IPFW keeps on their road swing as the team travels south to face off against the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State University on Monday, January 25, with tip-off slated for 8:00 PM EST in Brookings, South Dakota.
~Dons~
