UND's 10-0 home record to be put to the test against South Dakota schools

GRAND FORKS — After snapping an eight-game losing streak to North Dakota State last week, the UND women's basketball team should have no problem refocusing this weekend.

The Fighting Hawks can simply look at the score from the last time UND played South Dakota State, a 105-72 loss in Brookings, which was the first time in four years an opponent scored triple digits on the Hawks.

"It's not a week where we can sit and pat ourselves on the back," UND coach Mallory Bernhard said. "We can't spend our time getting caught up in the result of that one."

UND, which holds a 10-0 home record this season, will host South Dakota State on Thursday and South Dakota on Saturday. The Jackrabbits are 18-5 overall and 11-0 in the Summit.

UND isn't the only team to give up big numbers to the Jacks this season. SDSU put up 94 against North Dakota State, 118 against South Dakota and 99 against St. Thomas.

The Coyotes are 11-11 overall and 7-4 in the Summit.

"(SDSU and USD) have been the teams everyone is chasing for as long as we've been in the Summit League," Bernhard said. "SDSU is playing incredible basketball. They've gone unbeaten because of it. They provide a lot of challenges. They put up a lot of points against us because they have such a balanced attack."

Myah Selland leads the Jacks with 16.5 points per game, followed by Paiton Burckhard at 11.3 and Haleigh Timmer at 10.8. The Jacks have outrebounded teams by an average of 9.9 rebounds per game, which is best in the league by nearly 7.0 rebounds.

"I think it's just really about putting our nose to the grindstone and working hard and not taking a play off, understanding they're good teams and you can't take possessions off," UND forward Juliet Gordon said. "They're very balanced and have scoring threats across the board."

UND has been led by the conference's leading scorer in Kacie Borowicz, who is averaging 21.1 points per game. Claire Orth has chipped in 10.9 points per game, while Gordon is averaging 7.6 and freshman Nakiyah Hurst is averaging 7.4.