GRAND FORKS, N.D., Jan. 2 – Southern Utah (7-4, 1-1 BSC) led for the most of the night before North Dakota (7-4, 2-0 BSC) rallied in the final minutes for a 71-68 win at home Thursday night. UND outscored the Thunderbirds by a count of 9-0 over the final two-and-a-half minutes to erase a six-point deficit and come away with the three-point victory.
The two sides traded scores in the early going until Southern Utah ran off nine straight in the middle of the period to pull ahead 26-19. North Dakota came back with an 11-2 streak of its own to go up by two, but Thunderbirds scored ten points over the final 2:16 of the half to take a 38-32 lead at the break.
The T-Birds added to their lead early in the second half as Andrea Jones dropped in a layup and Lori Parkinson hit a jumper to push the advantage to nine. North Dakota kept things close from the foul line, but a three by Hailey Mandelko and a basket by Ashleigh Munns had the Thunderbirds up by ten at 52-42 with 11:16 remaining.
North Dakota battled back to cut the deficit to two on a jumper from Mia Loyd with less than five minutes left, but SUU worked the ball inside to Carli Moreland for a score to push the margin back to four. After the two teams traded scores Mandelko hit her fifth three of the game to set the Southern Utah lead at 68-62 with 2:36 to play.
Emily Evers cut the difference in half with a basket and a foul on the other end and freshman Leah Szabla followed with another trip to the line to pull North Dakota within one. Madi Buck drew another foul call with 19 seconds on the clock and converted both attempts to put the home team up 69-68.
Andrea Jones last second shot wouldn't fall for the Thunderbirds and Evers capped the scoring with two more free throws to set the final count at 71-68.
North Dakota scored its final 11 points at the foul line and went 27-36 on free throws while Southern Utah made 7-10 attempts. The home team held a slight shooting edge at 40.4 percent to 39.1 percent and outrebounded SUU, 43-36. The Thunderbirds turned 18 UND turnovers into 20 points and hit seven threes while holding their opponents to just two.
Buck led North Dakota with 23 points and Evers turned in a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Mandelko paced the T-Birds with 21 while Parkinson finished with 14 and Munns recorded a career-high with 10.
Southern Utah continues its opening Big Sky road trip next week with a visit to Sacramento State. The Thunderbirds and Hornets will tip things off on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 3:00 p.m. (MT). Coverage of SUU basketball is available online at www.suutbirds.com.
