Grand Forks, North Dakota - Despite a very strong first half by the Thunderbird women's basketball team on the road, the Fighting Hawks of North Dakota pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 68-56 victory.

“I was really happy with the execution the first three quarters,” SUU head coach Chris Boettcher said. “We got a little bit rattled near the end of the third and in the fourth we got in some foul trouble. Dari (Frandsen), Jessica (Richardson) and Breanu (Reid) all picked up four fouls, so we had to sit them a little bit and try to manage without them, and honestly just felt like we got a little bit nervous and started over thinking the game.”

The T-Birds started hot in the first quarter, building a lead as big as seven and holding the advantage throughout, leading 22-21 after 10 minutes of play.

The second half saw multiple ties and lead changes throughout, but a nice push near the end of the quarter gave SUU the lead 36-34 going into the break.

Reid hit double-digit scoring in the first half, dropping in 10 points.

The third quarter remained very close, as only three points separated the two teams going into the final period.

In the fourth quarter, UND jumped out on the T-Birds, building their lead up to nine by the time the clock hit the midway point. They were able to hold on the rest of the way, taking a 68-55 victory.

Reid led the T-Birds in scoring, but despite having 10 in the first half, she only finished with 12 in the game. Tiarra McDonald was second on the team in scoring with 11. Boettcher said he likes the dynamic the two freshmen have built with each other.

“They're really a fun combination to watch,” he said. “Especially as their confidence continues to grow. In fact, tonight Tiarra called a play and made the wrong read on it and then came by the bench and said 'coach run it again, I've got it this time' so we ran it again and she made a perfect read … it's been fun to watch their confidence and see them grow.”

Mia Loyd led the way for UND, scoring 15 points and pulling in 10 rebounds.

Despite not picking up a victory on this road trip, Boettcher said there are a lot of positives to bring back with them.

“The adjustment in how we played Thursday to Saturday was big,” he said. “How we took care of the basketball in tonight's game and shared it with multiple people that got involved, we were able to out rebound them on the offensive end stay tight with them all together.”

Boettcher went on to say the bench production on Saturday afternoon was also a big positive for the team.

The Thunderbirds will be back at home next week for a pair of games. On Thursday night the T-Birds will host Idaho State, and on Saturday in-state rival Weber State will be inside the Centrum Arena for a game.