VERMILLION, S.D. - Nebraska-Omaha rallied past the University of South Dakota 81-76 in North Central Conference women's basketball in the DakotaDome on Saturday night. The NCC win was the second straight road win for Nebraska-Omaha (4-9, 2-3 NCC). USD (7-6, 2-4 NCC) could not hold onto a six point lead with six minutes to play as the Coyotes fell to 5-2 in home games.
Early on both teams traded baskets and freshman Krista Orsack's three-pointer gave USD a 9-8 lead at the 15:41 mark. But Nebraska-Omaha's Andi Sutherland answered with consecutive three-point baskets for a 14-9 lead with 14:57 to play. Orsack hit her second three-point basket at 13:33 to draw USD within 17-14. The Mavericks jumped to a 25-16 lead on a jumper by Sara Peterson at the 11:49 mark. Orsack hit her third three-point basket at the 7:55 mark as the Coyotes closed the gap to 28-24. On this night, the Mavericks would find long-distance shooting a very pleasing thing. The Mavericks hit 8-of-17 three-point baskets for a torrid 47 percent in the opening half. Jennifer Mitchell hit two three-point baskets as the Mavericks jumped ahead 34-27 at 5:38 to play in the first half. A jumper by Erin Wessling to go up 36-27 with 4:47 to play. A Mitchell layup and a jumper by Tanya Hammes moved the lead to 40-29 at 2:32 of the first half. But USD went on a 6-0 run, including a jumper by Heather Nelson as the Coyotes stayed close at halftime, trailing just 40-35.
While the Mavericks were have a good shooting night, hitting 16-of-31 field goals, the Coyotes' season-long shooting woes continued. The Coyotes were just 13-of-36 field goals. In the opening half, Orsack led the Coyotes with 10 points while Kelly Gese had eight points. Mitchell scored 14 and Sutherland had nine points to lead the Mavericks.
While Nebraska-Omaha maintained the lead for the first nine minutes of the second half, the margin shifted from three to eight points. A three-pointer by Wessling gave the Mavericks a 43-35 lead at the 19:29 mark of the second half. Two free throws by Julia Frie cut the Maverick lead to 45-40 at the 16:21 mark. Then, the Coyotes took off on a 10-5 run, keyed by three-pointers from both Frie and Nelson to draw even 50-50 with 12:37 to play. After Sutherland hit another three-pointer to give the Mavericks a 55-52 lead, the Coyotes took control, outscoring the Mavericks 10-4 for a 65-59 lead with 7:08 to play. Gese had eight points during that run. A layup by Nelson gave the Coyotes a 71-65 lead with 5:25 left. Things seemed to be going the Coyotes' way. However, consecutive three-point baskets by Sutherland and Peterson tied the score at 71-71 with 4:13 to play. The Mavericks regained the lead for the first time since the 11:00 minute mark of the second half after Peterson hit a jumper for a 73-71 Maverick lead with 3:11 to play. Then, Anne Bomstad hit a pair of free throws, and the Mavericks' lead grew to 75-71 with 1:55 left in the game. Mitchell tagged on a pair of free throws, and the Mavericks had a 77-71 lead with 36 seconds to play. After the Coyotes had gained the 71-65 lead, they failed to score for nearly the last five minutes of the game before a jumper by Frie with 24 seconds to play in the game broke the shooting spell. A three-pointer by the Coyotes' Nicole Jaycox with two seconds to play was the final scoring as the Coyotes fell 81-76.
Shooting was a difficult thing for the Coyotes as they made just 27-of-72 (.375) field goals. Frie had 23 points for the Coyotes while Gese had 16 points and seven assists. Orsack had 14 points and Nelson added 13 points.
The Mavericks hit 28-of-56 field goals, including 13-of-29 (.448) three-point field goals. Nebraska-Omaha also made all 12 of their free throws. Sutherland, who came into the game averaging 5.9 points, scored 21 points, along with four rebounds and four assists. She hit 5-of-13 three-point field goals. Mitchell, who hit 5-of-10 three-point field goals, also had 21 points while dealing out 10 assists. Hammes had 16 points and 11 rebounds while Peterson had 10 points. Nebraska-Omaha won the rebound battle 41-36.
During the game, Gese moved into fourth place on the all-time assist list at USD. With seven assists, Gese now has 377 in her career. She moved past former Coyote guard Beth Vilhauer, who had 374 from 1985-89. She is just three away from Shelby Petersen Mayer, who had 380 assists from 1990-94.
