FARGO, N.D. - The Omaha women's basketball team led from start to finish in a 68-57 win at North Dakota State on Saturday afternoon at Bison Sports Arena.
The Mavericks improved to 10-14 overall and 2-8 in the Summit League. The victory snapped a seven-game losing skid and an 11-game road losing streak dating back to last season. North Dakota State fell to 6-20 overall and 2-9 in Summit League play.
Ericka House had a game-high 23 points and a season-best seven rebounds to lead four Mavs in double figures.
Madi Robson had 12 points and four assists, while
Mikaela Shaw had 11 points and nine rebounds and
Taijhe Kelly added 11 points, five rebounds and five blocked shots.
As they have in three straight road games, the Mavericks came to play right from the opening tip. Omaha jumped out to an 18-5 lead by the 10:40 mark after a 10-0 run.
Victoria Trowbridge started the spurt with two free throws, then House hit back-to-back baskets. Robson drove and created an easy basket for Kelly, then finished with a left-handed shot in the paint with the shot clock winding down to make it 18-5.
The Mavs maintained the double-digit lead for the rest of the half and took a 29-17 lead into the halftime break. UNO limited the Bison to 21.9-percent (7-of-32) from the field and 1-of-11 (9.1 percent) from 3-point range. More impressively, the Mavs held NDSU's leading scorer and assist leader Brooke LeMar to no points and no assists in the first 20 minutes.
Marena Whittle, however, kept NDSU in the game early in the second half, finishing a three-point play to cut the Mav lead to 33-24 at 16:22. With the Mavs leading 35-26,
Felicia Anderson hit a 3-pointer from the corner to go back up by 12 at the 14:13 mark.
LeMar's first points of the game brought NDSU back within single digits, 41-32, with 11:03 left. She scored the Bison's next seven points - including a banked 3-pointer from the top of the key - but Robson answered with buckets on two of her baskets and House had a 3-pointer out of a timeout off an assist from Robson to weather the storm.
Leading 48-39, the Mavs got two free throws from Trowbridge and a layup by Kelly to extend the lead to 52-39. NDSU got back within 10 at 52-42 on a 3-pointer by Bree Whatman with 6:28 to go. But the Mavs reeled off a 7-0 run over the next 2:53 to go up 59-42 with 3:35 remaining. Shaw started it with a bucket in the paint, and House hit four free throws along with one from Kelly.
The Bison would not go away quietly. LeMar keyed a 7-0 run with her second banked in trey of the half to pull within 59-49 with 2:14 left. But House scored a layup after a Maverick timeout, and Robson hit four straight free throws for a 65-49 Maverick lead with 1:37 to play.
The Mavericks shot 21-of-50 (42.0 percent) from the floor and attempted a season-low six 3-pointers, connecting on three. However, the Mavs spent the day in the paint and at the free throw line, outmuscling NDSU to a 30-16 points in the paint advantage. The Mavs went 23-of-30 (76.7 percent) from the free throw line, the most free throw attempts since 31 in the season opener.
NDSU finished 21-of-66 (31.8 percent) overall and 6-of-26 (23.1 percent) from long distance. The Mavs had 10 steals while forcing the Bison into 16 total turnovers.
The Mavericks are back at home on Thursday to host South Dakota at 7 p.m.
