FARGO - North Dakota State blitzed Utah Valley State early with 19 straight points and went on to defeat the Wolverines 81-48 before 873 fans at the Bison Sports Arena.
"We've been getting into the flow of things," said senior forward Danni Heintzelman.
All the trademarks were there for a blowout: a 56-38 rebounding advantage, balanced scoring (four players in double figures) and an opponent that struggled to take care of the ball.
"They're deep and they're big and we didn't bring a very good game tonight," Utah Valley coach Cathy Nixon said. "You don't bring it and you get what we got."
The Bison had one turnover in the first 13 minutes - to Utah Valley's 10 - and grabbed a 28-8 lead.
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Brenda Slyt's third straight field goal started NDSU's first-half offensive onslaught. Six different players scored among the 19 straight points and they did it from all areas of the court.
NDSU had good ball movement on offense and was active in its 2-3 zone defense.
It was 32-8 with 5:50 left in the first half, 34-10 with 5:13 remaining and 44-15 at 2:13 after six straight Heintzelman free throws. It was 46-20 when the Wolverines got a welcome halftime break.
Guards Emily Moran (3 for 3) and Amanda Girodat combined for 4 of 4 from 3-point range. For Girodat, it was her sixth straight made 3-pointer (it eventually reached seven before she missed) spanning three games.
Inside, the Bison dominated with a 29-16 rebounding advantage and holding one of the country's leading scorers, 6-1 center Robyn Fairbanks, to two points. Fairbanks, who came in averaging 24.4 points (which would rank her second if Utah Valley wasn't in a Division I transition), finished with 13.
"We had Fairbanks under control," NDSU coach Amy Ruley said.
Moran led NDSU with 18 points. Heintzelman had 15 points and 8 rebounds off the bench.
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