The Betty Engelstad Sioux Center court has been kind to Grafton's Carlee Sieben.
Sieben led the Spoilers to back-to-back N.D. Class B Region 2 championships there, en route to two consecutive state championship game appearances and one state title.
On Thursday, Sieben made the Betty court her new home surface. The three-time all-state selection signed with the UND women's basketball program.
"It checked all my boxes, really," Sieben said. "I love that it was only 40 minutes from home. It's a great school academically. I love the coaches, facilities and everything about it."
Sieben, a 5-foot-8 senior point guard, averaged 20.1 points per game while shooting 54 percent from the field and 38 percent from 3-point range. She averaged 6.0 assists, 3.7 steals and 2.5 rebounds per game.
Sieben ended her playing career with 2,086 points, the all-time leading scorer in Spoiler history. She's also the school's career leader in assists and steals.
"I'm really excited," Sieben said. "Growing up, I was always around UND basketball. Ever since my elementary age, I've been going to camps, team camps, high school elite camps. Every summer. It's just a dream come true to me."
Sieben was a five-year starter for the Spoilers, who went 103-23 in her career and finished as state champions in 2021 and state runner-up in 2020.
Sieben's strengths are in a play-making ability, court vision and basketball IQ.
"As a point guard, I try to be a leader and help my team get to where we need to be," she said.
Sieben is a four-sport athlete at Grafton, where she also competes in cross country in the fall and both track and field and golf in the spring.
Carlee's mom, Laurie Sieben, is a longtime coach of the Spoilers' girls basketball program.
"She's excited to see where her game goes," Laurie said. "She's a North Dakota kid excited to stay home and make an impact. She loves to compete.
"She has a point-guard mentality and can shoot it. She wants to further her game, get in the gym and endure the Division I regimen and excited to get after it."
Sieben, a preferred walk-on at UND, is the fifth recruit of the 2021 recruiting class. Brainerd's Erika Lane accelerated her education to join UND this past season.
The other additions expected next season are 5-foot-11 guard Jodi Anderson of Centennial High School (Minn.), 6-0 guard Allie McCarthy of Grand Falls, N.B., in Canada; and 6-6 center Miranda VanderWal of Strathvoy, Ont., in Canada.
