OMAHA, Neb. - Coming off two stunning road wins, the Mavericks have now earned their third three-game winning streak of the season after upsetting second-place North Dakota State 63-58 Thursday night in Baxter Arena.
Improving to 12-13 overall, Omaha has now matched its win total from the 2017-18 season (12-16). The Mavericks' 7-7 Summit League record also ties the team with the 2012-13 and 2015-16 squads for the second most conference wins in a season in the Division I era. Meanwhile, the Bison drop to 14-9 overall and 8-5 in league play.
Leaders For Omaha
Grace Cave set a new season high with 19 points, shooting 6-for-12 from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers, and going 5-for-6 (.833) from the stripe. She has now surpassed 250 on the season with a new 258 total after tonight. Cave also recorded four steals, the most she has ever had in a conference game.
Elena Pilakouta continues to dominate NDSU, going 5-for-5 for 10 points and pulling down a team high 11 rebounds for her second straight double-double and fifth this year. In two games against the Bison this season, she has shot a perfect 18-for-18 for 38 total points. Pilakouta moves into 17th place in Omaha's all-time scoring leader board with 1126 career points. This is also her 20th double-digit scoring game this season.
With eight points tonight,
Aaliyah Stanley has also managed to make history as she tops 300 points on the season with 301, joining Pilakouta (349) to become the first Mavericks duo to each record 300 points in a single season since Mikaela Shaw (539) and Michaela Dapprich (430) in 2016-17.
Leaders for North Dakota State
Elle Evans led the Bison with 16 points (7-for-14) and 15 rebounds to earn a double-double. Heaven Hamling was right behind her with 10 points, as well as a team-high five steals.
Team Stats
The Mavericks outshot the Bison across the board, beating them in FG% (43.1%, 22-for-51 to 35.3%, 24-for-68), 3-PT FG% (46.7%, 7-for-15 to 15.0%, 3-for-20), and FT% (85.7%, 12-for-14 to 70.0%, 7-for-10).
Inside the First Quarter
After a back and forth start to the period, the Mavericks eventually took an 11-10 lead on a Pilakouta layup at 5:02 and never looked back. Pilakouta's basket came in the middle of a 10-0 scoring run the culminated in her fourth bucket of the quarter at 1:17. She would later cap things off with a free throw to hand Omaha a 20-12 lead.
The Mavericks defense almost completely shutdown the Bison for much of the period, combining for 10 defensive rebounds, as well as a late steal from
Polina Nikulochkina which she immediately converted into a layup.
Inside the Second Quarter
The Mavericks were quiet to begin the second, only scoring four points vs. seven for NDSU. Cave accounted for all four points with a pair from the line and a layup.
A triple from Cave at 4:47 provided a light spark to the offense, though, as Stanley would get her second of the day from behind the arc a couple minutes later, followed by Cave going coast-to-coast on a huge steal to score her ninth points of the period and to help Omaha end the first half with a small but sufficient five-point lead.
Inside the Third Quarter
After being outscored in the prior period, the Mavericks fully retook control of the court as they dropped 20 points for the second quarter of the night while holding North Dakota State to 13. Cave stayed hot, notching five more points within the first two minutes, while
Kennedi Grant kicked off what would be an 11-point performance in the second half with her first bucket of the day at 8:01. The two of them would each grab two steals as well, while Cave accounted for five defensive boards,
Nikulochkina and Grant would later sink back-to-back three-pointers at 4:03 and 3:16 to grow Omaha's lead to 12 points at 47-35. Nikulochkina would finish off the quarter for Omaha with a layup and an and-one to make it a 14-point game.
Inside the Fourth Quarter
The Bison gave Omaha a bit of a scare in the final quarter, starting things off with a 7-0 run as they blanked the Mavericks through the first three minutes. After Grant broke up their run with a shot from deep at 6:55, NDSU scored six unanswered over the next three minutes to cut the lead down to 55-53.
With only 26 seconds remaining, Omaha was still holding on to a slim two-point lead. Four seconds later, however, the Mavericks caught a huge break when Cave drew a foul and subsequently nailed both shots from the stripe. Five seconds later she would be fouled again and make another free throw, before yet again getting fouled with two seconds on the clock to ice the game with two more from the line.
Next Up
Only four games remain for the Mavericks as they conclude their home stand this Saturday when they host North Dakota in a pivotal 12 p.m. game at Baxter Arena.
