OMAHA, Neb.- UND forward Theresa LeCuyer (Sr., Anoka, MN) scored 23 points and Mandy Arndtson (Sr., Austin, Minn.) added 21 points to lead third-ranked North Dakota past host Nebraska-Omaha, 70-61, in NCC women's basketball on Friday.
North Dakota is 11-0 overall and 3-0 in the North Central Conference. Nebraska-Omaha is 2-8 overall and 0-2 in the NCC.
The Sioux won despite a cold shooting night. North Dakota, which came into the game shooting 48.6 percent from the field on the season, made just 33.3 percent (26-of-78) against the Mavericks. UND made just 3-of-25 from three-point range. Nebraska-Omaha shot 44 percent (22-of-50) from the field.
UND trailed 48-47 with 14:25 to play, but tied it on a free throw by center Jenny Boll (So., Crookston, Minn.) with 13:23 to play. Boll's foul shot was the beginning of a 17-2 UND run over the next 8:35, as the Sioux opened up a 64-50 lead with 5:10 to play. During that stretch the Sioux held the Mavericks scoreless for nearly seven minutes at one point.
Before the Sioux run, Nebraska-Omaha had taken its first lead (45-44) on a jumper by Tanya Hammes with 14:59 to play. UND regained the lead almost immediately, as Arndtson hit a three-pointer to make it 47-45 UND with 14:59 to play. That lead was short-lived, however, as Mavericks' freshman Erin Wessling hit a three-pointer to make it 48-47 in favor of the Mavericks with 14:24 left.
Wessling, a freshman, led Nebraska-Omaha with 17 points.
UND was leading 66-53 with just over four minutes left when the Mavericks scored the next eight points to close to within five points at 66-61 with 1:31 to play. That was as close as Nebraska-Omaha got, as Boll scored on a layup and LeCuyer made two free throws with 24 seconds left to close out the scoring.
In the first half, UND got started quickly, opening up a 28-13 lead with 10:01 to play in the half. Over the next 10 minutes, however, the score was nearly reversed, as Nebraska-Omaha outscored the Sioux 24-12 to narrow UND's lead to 40-37 at halftime.
The Mavericks used red-hot shooting from the field (13-of-23--56.5 percent) to get back in the game at halftime.
UND, meanwhile, was victimized by cold shooting from the field in the first half, hitting just 35.4 percent (17-of-48). The Sioux made just 2-of-14 from three-point range in the first half.
North Dakota outrebounded Nebraska-Omaha, 54-36. LeCuyer led all players with 13, with Arndtson adding 12 and Janel Palbicki (So., Bloomington, Minn.) grabbing 11 boards.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS North Dakota vs Nebraska-Omaha 12-29-00 6:00 at Sapp Fieldhouse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: North Dakota 11-0 3-0 NCC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 03 Theresa LeCuyer..... f 10-29 0-4 3-4 9 4 13 2 23 1 3 0 3 34 43 Mandy Arndtson...... f 8-16 3-5 2-2 7 5 12 1 21 3 3 1 3 35 44 Jenny Boll.......... c 3-4 0-1 9-12 0 4 4 4 15 3 0 1 1 21 10 Tonia Jones......... g 1-5 0-2 0-2 4 2 6 3 2 4 0 0 5 29 24 Jenny Hoffner....... g 0-5 0-5 0-0 0 2 2 3 0 4 1 0 4 27 21 Marisa Leighton..... 1-4 0-2 0-1 2 1 3 1 2 1 1 0 0 15 22 Becky Moen.......... 1-9 0-6 0-0 1 2 3 1 2 0 0 0 2 19 23 Megan Pick.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 55 Janel Palbicki...... 2-6 0-0 1-2 8 3 11 2 5 0 2 0 0 18 TEAM................ Totals.............. 26-78 3-25 15-23 31 23 54 17 70 16 10 2 18 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-48 35.4% 2nd Half: 9-30 30.0% Game: 33.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-14 14.3% 2nd Half: 1-11 9.1% Game: 12.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 11-16 68.8% Game: 65.2% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska-Omaha 2-8 0-2 NCC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 32 HAMMES, Tanya....... f 3-6 0-0 2-2 2 6 8 2 8 0 3 3 1 32 42 BOMSTAD, Anne....... f 5-8 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 5 10 3 4 0 2 20 02 SUTHERLAND, Andi.... g 3-12 1-6 3-4 2 3 5 2 10 3 4 0 1 39 20 MITCHELL, Jennifer.. g 3-8 1-2 4-7 1 6 7 0 11 5 5 0 2 40 34 WESSLING, Erin...... g 6-10 4-6 1-2 0 4 4 2 17 1 3 0 0 30 33 PETERSON, Sara...... 0-1 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 10 40 KERKHOFF, Kari...... 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 4 4 3 1 2 1 19 45 VOLNEK, Rachel...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 9 50 PAUL, Kara.......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 22-50 6-16 11-17 9 27 36 20 61 15 20 5 7 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-23 56.5% 2nd Half: 9-27 33.3% Game: 44.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 37.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 8-12 66.7% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 64.7% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Miller, Stevens, Garrow Technical fouls: North Dakota-None. Nebraska-Omaha-None. Attendance: 350 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total North Dakota.................. 40 30 - 70 Nebraska-Omaha................ 37 24 - 61