GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Bismarck State women's basketball faced a tall task on Sunday afternoon as they were on the road against Division-I North Dakota for their third game in three days. The Mystics didn't back down from the challenge, matching the Fighting Hawks from start to finish, but coming up just short in their spirited upset attempt, falling 89-80 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
Despite the odds, the Mystics were ready from the opening tip, going on an immediate eight-point run highlighted by back-to-back
Alionna Lawrence threes. That jolt woke up the Fighting Hawks, who responded to tie the game at 12 before the teams went back and forth to see the opening frame end 23-22 in favor of BSC.
The teams continued to trade blows into halftime, where UND captured the lead late and took a 44-41 advantage into the break. Despite the deficit, the Mystics showed their fight, leading for 13 minutes of the first half, compared to two minutes and 49 seconds for the Hawks.
The third period was more back-and-forth action, which nearly saw a tie game going into the final period if not for a layup to beat the buzzer for UND. Trailing by just two at 59-57, the Mystics' fatigue began to show, having just wrapped up a hard-fought back-to-back at home less than 21 hours prior.
The Fighting Hawks took advantage immediately, hitting two threes to open the quarter and extend their lead to eight. Again, BSC wouldn't back down and continued to go punch-for-punch with UND in the final 10 minutes, as they returned to within five points at 83-78 with 1:29 remaining.
The last hope for the Mystics rested on sending the Hawks to the free-throw line, where they were perfect from that point and clinched the 89-80 victory. UND scored 30 points on 57 percent shooting in the final frame to put the game away, as BSC scored 23 points on 42 percent from the field in quarter four to come painfully close to a historic upset.
Kennedy Stormer led the way for the Mystics with an impressive 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, coming one board shy of a triple-double.
Ashley Martodam was right behind her with 14 points and five rebounds, along with
Alionna Lawrence with 12 points.
Natalie DeCoteau came off the bench to provide 12 points and eight rebounds.
Bismarck State finished the afternoon 16-of-38 from beyond the arc and shot 45 percent from the field. North Dakota finished an even 50 percent from the floor and shot 11-of-32 from deep. They held the points-in-the-paint advantage, scoring 40 and doubling BSC's total of 20.
UND takes the lead in the all-time series against the Mystics, 2-1, with their previous matchups being a 64-61 Fighting Hawk victory in Grand Forks in 1978 and a 75-65 Mystic win in Bismarck in 1977. On the season, the Mystics fall to 6-15 (6-10) while the Fighting Hawks improve to 6-15 (2-7).
Up next for the Mystics is a pair of crucial conference road games on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 6 & 7. They head to Dillon, Mont. on Friday for, up to this point, their most important game of the season against Montana Western (8-12, 6-10). BSC is currently tied for seventh spot in the Frontier Conference standings with the Bulldogs and sits just one game ahead of Bellevue (Neb.), which has an eye for the final playoff spot.
Following Friday's game, they head to Butte, Mont., to take on the No. 13-ranked Montana Tech Orediggers (16-4, 12-4), who are currently third in the conference. Both games are scheduled for 6 p.m. CT (5 p.m. MT).
Check out the
women's schedule for information on how to follow and watch the team, and attend the final two home games.
Be sure to visit BSCMystics.com and download the MysticNation app to continue to stay up to date with everything going on in Mystic Athletics.
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