Dec. 20—GRAND FORKS — UND head coach Dennis Hutter called Saturday afternoon's 65-46 win over Dickinson State the "best-case scenario."
The Fighting Hawks did enough to comfortably defeat their three-win NAIA opponent at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut there was still much to improve on with non-conference play wrapped up.
"When you win, and you have things to work on, it's the best-case scenario," Hutter said. "Even if you don't like the way you played, you've got to at least appreciate the fact that you were able to play well enough to win, because not everybody gets to do that.
"And then you've just gotta think about your situation, and whether it's a coach, as a team or yourself as a player, and then just kind of thinking, 'How can I get myself better?' And we'll do that here over the break and come back out of the break and get ready for Oral Roberts and Denver."
The Hawks enter the holiday break with a 3-10 record and two straight wins over NAIA opponents. They'll open Summit League play on Jan. 1 with a road trip to Denver.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"When we come back, it'll bring a little bit more fight to us," senior center Walker Demers said. "That's what we need before conference play."
UND had a strong showing through the first two quarters. Demers was dominant and efficient in the post, shooting 5-for-5 for 11 points and seven rebounds.
She ended the day with a team-high 15 points and 10 rebounds.
"She is a legitimate threat for us," Hutter said. "She's been really good for us when we've been struggling to shoot the ball. She presents herself, she posts hard, she plays hard. She defends on a high level for us night in and night out, and so she did a great job of sealing, getting big."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Blue Hawks struggled to break through the Hawks' defense, shooting 23.3%. UND entered halftime with a 43-18 lead.
"I thought we got off to not a great start, but then we kind of got it cranked up offensively," Hutter said. "About halfway through the first and then all the way through the second, I thought we really were kind of clicking on all cylinders a little bit offensively, and started to hit some shots and really move the ball."
The offense started to sputter in the third quarter, though. Dickinson State began doubling Demers and putting more bodies inside, forcing the Hawks to play more on the perimeter.
The Hawks shot 3-for-16 from the field and scored 10 points in the third quarter.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Blue Hawks' offense was even worse. They scored just five points, shooting 1-for-14.
"Whenever you're struggling offensively, you need your defense to step up," Hutter said. "It really is important. So that's why we talk a lot in a lot of these press conferences about being able to guard, being able to defend at a high level, limiting teams to one shot, just being tough defensively."
Dickinson State's shooters finally caught fire in the fourth quarter. The visitors nailed six triples and outscored UND 23-12 in the final frame.
The Hawks were outscored in the second half, 28-22.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"We need to defend better," Hutter said. "We talked about 16 for 40 in the locker room —16 players for 40 minutes, and we need to defend for 40 minutes. I just thought we lost some kids in transition there a little bit (in the fourth quarter), lost some assignments in regard to personnel a little bit, and probably didn't finish that thing out the way we needed to. We can't have 16 for 35, we've got to have 16 for 40."
Though UND's offense went through lengthy scoring droughts, sophomore guard Sydney Piekny continued to find ways to score.
She shot 3-for-5 from 3-point range, finishing with 13 points.
Piekny reached double-digit point totals in back-to-back games for the first time in her career, and she has a proclivity for nailing triples from the left corner.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"If you want to send mail to her, just send it to the left corner at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, and she'll get it," Hutter said. "It just happens to be on a missed shot where she's running the floor. It really is nothing intentional, it just happens to be on that transition."
Freshman forward London Harris was another contributor on offense, matching her career high by scoring nine points. She also notched a pair of steals and two rebounds.
"She's a tough kid, quiet toughness," Hutter said. "She really doesn't say a lot. She is a tough kid. Love how she defends, willing to buy into it, embraces being a great defender or defensive stopper."
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