OMAHA, Neb. – Mikaela Shaw had her fifth double-double of the season, but North Dakota State defeated Omaha, 77-60, on Thursday night at Sapp Fieldhouse.
The Mavericks fell to 6-12 overall and 1-5 in the Summit League. The Bison improved to 9-10 overall and 5-2 in league play.
Shaw led UNO with 19 points and 10 rebounds. She was 7-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.
Sami Pawlak added eight points and four rebounds off the bench. Pawlak was 4-of-7 from the field. Taijhe Kelly had eight rebounds and seven blocked shots to go along with five points. Bobbi Beckwith chipped in six points and five boards. Lanese Bough and Remy Davenport each has six points.
Brooke LeMar led three Bison in double digits. LeMar had a game-high 26 points on 11-of-20 shooting. She added three assists and five steals. Taylor Thunstedt added 15 points and six rebounds off the bench, while Liz Keena added 10 points and five boards.
Omaha and North Dakota State exchanged buckets in the opening minutes of the game. Shaw and Brianna Bogard each had buckets to keep the Mavs even with the Bison, 4-4.
However, NDSU went on a 20-3 run to go up 24-7 by the 8:20 mark on a LeMar basket. UNO answered with a 10-3 run of its own to cut the lead to 10 points, 27-17, on a Bogard free throw.
The Mavs used a Pawlak jumper in the paint with 12 seconds left in the half to get within ten points. NDSU's LeMar hit a jumper with three seconds left to make the halftime score 33-21.
The Mavs fought back in the second half and cut the lead to nine at 35-26 with a 5-2 run, capped off by a Kelly jumper with 17:37 remaining.
NDSU responded with a quick 5-0 run to extend the lead to 40-26. UNO again cut the lead to nine points (40-31) following a Davenport 3-pointer.
Omaha cut the lead one last time to nine points (42-33) on a Pawlak layup with 14:42 remaining in the game. The Bison worked back out to a double-digit lead and did not allow the Mavericks to get closer than 12 points in the final 14:26 of the game. NDSU took its largest lead of the game with 31 seconds left on a Kahla Becken 3-pointer. Bough made a layup with 13 seconds left in the game to make the final score 77-60.
The Mavs shot 41.8 percent (23-of-55) overall and 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from 3-point range. North Dakota State shot 41.9 percent (31-of-74) overall and 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from long distance. The Bison held a 41-40 rebounding advantage, while Omaha blocked nine shots on the evening.
Omaha travels to Tulsa, Okla. on Saturday, Jan. 24 to face Oral Roberts University in a Summit League contest. Tipoff from the Mabee Center is set for 2:00 p.m.
