Mastodons Finish Dakota Sweep with 68-55 win over Bison

Monday, January 24

Fargo, N.D.

8:00 PM

Purdue Fort Wayne

13-5, 7-2Summit

North Dakota State

8-11, 4-5Summit

IPFW

North Dakota State

Stephanie Rosado scored 24 points as the Mastodons picked up the first win over North Dakota State since the 2005-06 season

Mastodons Finish Dakota Sweep with 68-55 win over Bison

1/24/2011 10:26:10 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOX SCORE | POSTGAME NOTES (.pdf)

Fargo, ND - The IPFW Mastodons snapped an eight-game losing streak to the North Dakota State Bison, picking up the program's first ever sweep of North Dakota State and South Dakota State, after the team's 68-55 victory on Monday evening.

The win improves IPFW to 13-5 on the season, and 7-2 in the Summit League halfway through the league schedule. The Mastodons have also won six consecutive games, the program's longest win streak as a NCAA Division I member.

Stephanie Rosado scored a game-high 24 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field, while Chelsey Jackson scored a dozen off of the bench while adding a team-high three assists, and Kayla Drake, after her 27-point, 10-steal effort against South Dakota State on Saturday, scored 11 points and picked up a half dozen steals in the win.

Sydney Weinert missed a double-double by a single point, scoring nine points and pulling down 13 rebounds, as Drake and Jordan Zuppe each dished out two assists in the win, as the Mastodons had a 9-to-7 assist-to-turnover ratio.

The first half was a defensive battle that saw each team go on a significant run. The Bison jumped ahead early, leading 2-0 and 4-2, before IPFW ran off six consecutive points to turn the two-point deficit into a four-point lead before the first media timeout.

Over the next four minutes, NDSU ran off a 6-0 run of its own, to lead by two at 10-8. After IPFW tied the game with a Weinert lay-up, NDSU ran off its second consecutive 6-0 run to lead by six at 16-10 following an Abby Plucker three-point basket.

The Mastodons quickly answered with an 8-0 run of its own, before NDSU scored four in a row to take a two-point, 20-18 lead, its final lead of the contest. IPFW closed the first half by out-scoring NDSU 10-4 the rest of the way to take a four-point, 28-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Out of the gate at halftime, Rosado hit a jumper to push IPFW's advantage to six; however, NDSU would not back down, and tied the game at 32 apiece after a Danielle DeGagne lay-in. A 9-4 IPFW run pushed the Mastodon lead to five following a Jackson jumper with 13:13 left in the game.

The Bison twice got as close as one in the final ten minutes of the game, and trialed by three at 54-51 with 5:04 left in the game before IPFW ran off a back-breaking 11-0 run over the next four and a half minutes, to give the game a 13-point final margin in the Mastodon win.

IPFW made 26-of-59 shots from the field for a percentage of 44.1, while hitting just 2-of-19 from long range (10.5 percent). NDSU was 20-of-51 from the field (39.2 percent), while making 4-of-13 from long range, and 11-of-12 from the charity stripe.

Abby Plucker scored a team-high 23 points, as Janae Burich and DeGagne each added eight points.

The Mastodons return to action when the squad plays host to the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts University on Saturday, January 29, with the game now scheduled for the Hilliard Gates Sports Center at 1:00 PM EST.

~Dons~