University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
North Dakota
UNI Stumbles at North Dakota, 74-70
12/17/2011 1:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Grand Forks, N.D. -- The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team could not overcome a momentum-swinging 16-1 run by the University of North Dakota to open the second half, and the Panthers dropped a non-conference road contest 74-70 on Saturday afternoon.
UNI (7-3) rallied late in the game to trim a 15-point deficit to one at 71-70 with a minute remaining, but North Dakota closed the game with three free throws to seal the victory.
Senior guard K.K. Armstrong led UNI with 26 points, matching her career high. Senior Katelin Oney and freshman Brittni Donaldson each scored 11. Amber Kirschbaum pulled down 10 rebounds to lead all players.
North Dakota (5-5) shot 25-of-52 (48.1 percent) for the game. Nicole Smart led the Fighting Sioux with 14 points. The Panthers were 26-of-63 (41.3 percent) from the field, but only 2-of-15 from beyond the arc.
UNI struggled with foul trouble, with starters Mercedees Morgan and Rachel Madrigal each fouling out with more than two minutes remaining in the game. North Dakota was 21-of-32 at the free throw line, making one more free throw than the Panthers attempted (16-of-20).
UNI fell behind 6-0 early, but its defense kept the game close until an 8-0 run put the Panthers up 14-11 with 10:24 left before halftime.
UNI struggled shooting in the opening half, going 11-of-34 from the field and 1-of-9 from three-point range. However, the Panthers converted 13 North Dakota turnovers into 13 points, and a three-pointer by Oney with five seconds remaining in the period gave the UNI a 24-23 lead at the break.
The Fighting Sioux used a 16-1 run to open a 39-25 lead early in the second half, but UNI continued to battle back. Armstrong scored 14 of the Panthers' 17 points in a stretch that trimmed the deficit from 10 points to five with under five minutes to play. After UND stretched the margin to 12 points once again, UNI responded with a 15-4 run of its own to get to 71-70 with one minute remaining.
UNI had an opportunity at the offensive end down 72-70 after a free throw by Smart, but Donaldson's shot missed and a rebound by North Dakota led to two more free throws.
Along with matching her career-best in scoring, Armstrong also tallied five assists to move into a tie for ninth-place on the UNI career leaderboard at 278.
The Panthers will return to action on Tue., Dec. 20, when they travel to Ames, Iowa, to take on the Iowa State Cyclones. Tipoff at Hilton Coliseum is set for 7 p.m.
