SWSiouxMN

Interesting line up Webb Schuler Huff Nash Calcaterra

I agree, they just couldn't finish their chances against Rigsby. They bury 1 or two of those and its an entirely different situation in the polls, PWR, and WCHA. Shelby will need to be awesome in both games (unless they keep rotating Shaw in on Saturdays) this weekend, just like she was against Wisconsin the first time. I like our chances this weekend.

I like everyone's picks, I'll go UND 81-69. I just have a gut feeling that this could be the game where they finally start getting their act together and they start playing like the favored team that they are. I have 2 bold predicitons tonight. 1) Troy Huff has his best all around game of the season (20 points, 8 boards, 4 steals, 4 assists, 2 blocks) 2) UND defense will show actual improvement Other games Weber pulls a big road win over UNC, early battle for conference supremacy (76-71) Montana State keeps up the hot start over a depleted PSU, who lost their best player for the year (71-62) NAU holds serve at home over Sac State, Jacobson has a big game once again (77-69) I'm picking EWU in a upset over Montana at home and looking at Jois to have a big time game against a suspect Montana interior. (81-77)

Well I would hope that a team that was named after the Excellence of Execution be the best there was, the best there is and the best there was ever going to be

Fri: Drake Sat: Johnson

After a less than impressive win against SUU, UND moves on to the middle game of their 3 game homestand against Idaho State. This isn't the same Bengal team from last year, these Bengals have a little bit more a pop offensively. Coach Evens has done a nice job in getting players to fit his system. Idaho State played very well on their home court in getting 2 home wins against PSU and EWU. They are lead by a 3 guard combo of Hansen, Sanchez, and Hatchett, who average 16.5, 16.2, and 14.5 points respectively. Hansen and Sanchez is the big 3 point threats for ISU and they are not afraid to launch at any time, especially in transition. Hachett is more of the drive and attack guard who can get to the line at will. ISU is not very tall or lengthy, so they will run zone against us (they ran a lot of zone against EWU). I think Jaron Nash needs to be a intregal part of the offense because I don't think ISU has any horses to stop him. We need to aggressively attack the zone and take advantage of the mismatches. We need to play well on the defensive end and to get back on transition D to come away with the W. Other Big Sky Games for 1/9 : Weber (2-0) @ UNC (2-0) Montana (1-1) @ EWU (0-2) Montana State (2-0) @ PSU (0-2) Sac State (0-2) @ NAU (1-1) Off: SUU

There is a lot I like about this team right now: 1) Szabla and Knox are massive upgrades over Williams and Mills: has given stability at the guard position and provide offensive punch at a key times. Szabla is still wild at times as a freshman. Knox has been very steady and these girls will continue to grow as the years progress. By having a bit more of an threat at the point with legitament shooters and drivers that can make free throws!, it makes a difference. 2) Mia: If there was such a thing as a most improved player in conference, she would be near or at the top of the leaderboard. She has a motor that just doesn't quit and works to get every single rebound (tied for 24th in the nation!). The Canadian scrimmages really helped her expand her range to where she is comfortable in taking shot from outside. Given her size, if she can keep hitting those shot, she will be that much more dangerous 3) Brewster and the coaching staff: I'll admit that after last season I had some revisions on coach Brew. He has improved has a head coach from year 1 to year 2. I like his coaching moves to keep Wall and Evers fresh and prevent them from getting hurt. He has this team working very hard. Hopefully he can continue to improve and get this team to improve as well. 4) Having Wall and Evers healthy have been a nice jolt for this team, Wall looks like the girl from 2 years ago and Evers has once again shown improvement in her game. Also pretty much blocking everything in their paths 5) This team has heart, they are not afraid to get on the floor, fight for the ball, plays hard nose pressure D, does every little thing right. I'll be the first to admit we don't have the greatest talent in the Sky, but giving 110% every possession, every game can easily make up for lack of talent. I tip that to the coaching staff as well. 6) Buck proves why she is a star today, she didn't have her best night shooting but she did everything else amazing. She didn't stop playing and shooting either. Im hoping that this game was just an fluke, she has the capability of going off for 30 or more. But to be the wet blanket, I have 2 concerns going forward 1) Outside shooting: We need girls that can hit from 3, that is the one big thing we are missing right now. Buck can a proven track record in this, but outside or her we don't have a developed outside shooter. Dillion is hurt right now, so is Lauck and Houdek. I would actually like to see Mia shoot a little more outside, because she can hit that shot consistently. Dyer is going to be huge going forward, if she can build off her 2nd half today this team will take a couple more steps to being a legit threat in the conference 2) Injuries: Keeping these girls healthy will be so important, especially with Wall and Evers. There are not a lot of players that can handle both of these two. Hopefully Dillion at some point can come back because she can help stretch the floor from 3. Huge weekend coming up at Weber and ISU. 2 games that can be had, it would be nice to have them come back either at 4-1 or 5-0 and have 2 big games against the Montana schools.

UND 63 UNC 51 Final UND moves to 3-0 in the sky, 8-4 overall

This is a solid sweep of a good UNC team, no question about it. This team has improved so much from last year its not funny.

58-51 UND 57.3 2nd UND ball

oooo, UND got bailed out there. 56-51 UND 1:12 2nd

that is heart and getting on the floor to win that possession.

UND is outrebounding UNC right now 42-18

Mia is having a half... both inside and outside

52-46 UND 4:40 2nd

Hello Dyer!

UNC has no answer inside in dealing with our height.

Sounds like they are trying to get Lauck a hardship for next year.

If they can start hitting some shots, I think we should be alright. Keep the rebounding and the defensive intensity up.

He also should tell them this is how you effectively play man to man D and make the extra pass.

D and some timing shooting has brought us back in it! 22-20 UND

wow, we are just relentless on the boards.... we just need to convert one of them eventually! But I love it, I wish the men would play like that

We have our DC!

Hopefully they can keep it up and beat UNC on Saturday to complete an early and important sweep. We will find out more about these girls in conference play these next 2 weeks with the trip out to Poky and the Montanas at home the next weekend after. Early returns are good so far.

Watched a couple other games last night along with ours. My thoughts EWU @ WEBER EWU: This team is going to be scary good in the next 2 years, and they are going to give the top teams a big headache this year. Case in point, they exploded out to a 10-0 at Weber last night and although Weber came back to win the game, Weber just could not put these guys away. Unlike last year, the Eagles have both a legit inside threat (Jois) and outside threat (Harvey), who are both sophomores. Harvey has exploded out of nowhere this year, averaging 20 a game for the Eagles and dropped 30 against Weber last night. They also gave Weber fits with their zone D last night as well. Weber however did keep Jois in check until the 2nd half and Harvey and Jois combined for 45 out of 67 points. This team will only get better and will be a tough out if they make the Big Sky tourney, and if they can get a consistent 3rd scorer to go with Jois and Harvey.... look out. Weber: Like a true champion, they fought back from adversity and pulled one out on their home court. They have a very dynamic freshman guard in Senglin who was a big part in their win last night (averages 12 pts a game). The inside duo of Bolomboy and Tresnak did damage and pick their spots to led the 'Cats. Like I said they did struggle with EWU zone D, but did keep a good job in keeping Jois in check (but I sure they did not like letting Harvey go off for 30). They also strugged a bit from outside (6-20), which helped keep EWU in the game. Still, they are still one of the teams to be in the Sky this year and will only procede to get better NAU @ MONT NAU: NAU went right after Montana's weakness, inside. Jacobson shredded Montana's posts like a grater on a block of cheese, combine that with the lights out performance by their JUCO transfer Dixon (went 8-9 from the field, 3-3 from downtown including a dagger 3 with 35 seconds to go). They are doing okay without Russell (who left the team in the beginning of the year) and served notice to the rest of the conference that they can play and beat anyone anytime. MONT: While not a major blow to winning the conference, there is concern in Missoula. Montana needs to work on their interior D so they do not allow posts to beat them down low. Also, they need more production from the post as well. Jamar is playing like the best player in the conference (21-8-7 last night is a damn good stat line) and he got some help from Gregory (who went 5-10 from downtown). Standings as of 1/3 UNC 1-0 MSU 1-0 WEB 1-0 ISU 1-0 NAU 1-0 UND 1-1 MON 0-1 PSU 0-1 EWU 0-1 SAC 0-1 SUU 0-1 Games 1/4 SUU (0-1) @ UNC (1-0) PSU (0-1) @ WEB (1-0) EWU (0-1) @ ISU (1-0) NAU (1-0) @ MSU (1-0) SAC (0-1) @ MONT (0-1) Off: UND (1-1)