Hot Shooting, Tempo Leads Women's Hoops Past NDSU, 70-58

AMHERST, Mass. – Paced by a game-high 24 points from Hailey Leidel, the UMass women's basketball team defeated North Dakota State, 70-58, on Monday night in the Mullins Center. The win marked the first with the Minutewomen for new head coach Tory Verdi as UMass improves to 1-1 on the year.

Leidel, also announced Monday as the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, hit 8-of-19 from the floor and snagged nine rebounds. Additionally, the freshman had six assists. She was joined in double-figures by 14 points from fellow freshman Ryan Holder and a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds from junior Maggie Mulligan.

North Dakota State (1-1) was led by 17 points from Kennedy Childers and 15 points from Emily Spier. Sarah Jacobson rounded out the top scorers with 11 points, while Spier also had a double-double with 12 rebounds.

Overall, the Minutewomen were able to outscore the Bison 46-to-14 in the paint which translated to a 45.8 percent shooting effort for the night. UMass was also able to push transition play outscoring NDSU 14-to-2 in fast-break points.

A quick start to the first quarter gave UMass a double-figure lead for much of the game. The Minutewomen used an 11-to-2 run over the first five minutes of play and led by as many as 19 points before going into the second quarter up 24-7.

UMass kept up its hot shooting through the second half to go into intermission with a 38-23 lead. In the opening half of play, the Minutewomen knocked down 52.9 percent of its shots hitting 18-of-34 from the floor. Defensively, UMass held the Bison to under 30 percent from the floor (8-of-27).

NDSU was able to cut into the lead during the third trailing by just seven, 51-44, after a three-pointer from Emily Spier.

The Bison continued to chip away with another three-pointer to start the fourth quarter as Sarah Jacobson cut UMass' lead to 51-47.

A three-point play from Leidel and a lay-up from George extended the lead to nine, but North Dakota State hit its third straight three-pointer as Thunstedt connected with 7:39 to go.

Leidel answered with her first three-pointer of the night to push the lead back to nine, 59-50. That sparked a 9-to-0 run for the Minutewomen as they closed out the quarter for the win.

UMass will next head to the Hawkeye Classic this Saturday and Sunday. The Minutewomen will play host Iowa on Saturday before taking on either South Dakota State or Montana on Sunday.

For complete coverage of the UMass women's basketball program, follow the Minutewomen on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @UMassWBB and online at www.UMassAthletics.com.

Scoreboard

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Team Stats

Hailey Leidel

Ryan Holder

Maggie Mulligan

Jessica George

Players Mentioned

Ryan Holder

Hailey Leidel

Maggie Mulligan

Players Mentioned

Ryan Holder

Hailey Leidel

Maggie Mulligan

Scoreboard

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