South Dakota's Grace Larkins limited as UND women's basketball dominates Coyotes in 80-54 win

GRAND FORKS — When UND women’s basketball starters Walker Demers, Jocelyn Schiller and Nevaeh Ferrara Horne left the floor with a minute and a half left to play against South Dakota, the crowd of 1,800 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center stood and cheered as the trio headed to the bench.

The fans watched the Fighting Hawks dominate South Dakota in an 80-54 win Wednesday night, UND’s largest win over the Coyotes since Jan. 15, 2005 – exactly 20 years ago – when the Hawks beat South Dakota 89-62 in Grand Forks.

“It’s obviously something that makes the Betty special,” UND coach Mallory Bernhard said. “We have a very loyal fan base. I feel like it’s our job to give them something to get on their feet about and get them excited. We’ve known for a long time that we have to get the wins, and we have to put a product on the floor that they’re proud to watch. Win or lose, just play our butts off, play hard, and play basketball the right way, and they’ll show up.

“I’m happy (the fans) got to see a night like tonight. I’m happy for our team, obviously, but we have some absolutely fantastic fans, and I hope they enjoyed tonight and keep coming out.”

UND led all 40 minutes of its 26-point win, its first over South Dakota since Feb. 4, 2023. The Hawks (8-10) have won two Summit League games over a four-day span, and are less than a week removed from a double-overtime loss to Oral Roberts.

“I think the fans are really starting to appreciate just what we’re doing out there,” Schiller said, “and I think the time we’re putting in behind the scenes is really helping, too. We’re shooting the ball better and less turnovers — taking care of the ball — so that definitely is helping.”

South Dakota, which has now won 15 of its last 17 games against UND, watched as the Hawks limited Coyotes star Grace Larkins to 14 points — her lowest total since scoring 12 at Wyoming on Dec. 15.

Larkins still ended with a double-double (13 rebounds) — her fifth-straight. But Larkins averaged 32.8 points, 11.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game over her last five games entering Wednesday’s matchup.

She dropped 45 points against Omaha on Saturday, earning her both AP national player of the week and Ann Meyers Drysdale national player of the week honors.

“Defensively, I really liked our intensity,” Bernhard said. “I thought we did a great job — Grace Larkins is obviously someone who can put up some pretty big numbers. I thought we did a really good job trying to contain her, especially off that flat screen, which we had a little bit of trouble with this last weekend. It felt like a team effort on both sides of the ball, and really loved the fight from our team.”

Demers, who transferred to UND this spring after two seasons at South Dakota, played her former team for the first time, putting up seven points and 13 rebounds.

“I got a lot of questions asked before the game, like, ‘Are you nervous?’” she said. “I was like, ‘Why would I be?’ I have an amazing team behind me, and I was excited more than anything. That (win) was just the best feeling.”

Mikayla Aumer led UND with 17 points, and Schiller added 14. Ferrara Horne had 12 points off 4-for-6 3-point shooting.

Fatima Ibrahim’s double-double (10 points, 13 rebounds) came off a 5-for-7 shooting night.

One month ago, on Dec. 17, UND hosted Mayville State. The Hawks trailed by three points at halftime before coming back to win.

Four days later, the Hawks traveled to Wyoming and scored just three points in the final quarter of a 73-41 loss.

But “something definitely clicked with our team,” after that game, Bernhard said. UND has gone 3-1 over the last four games, signaling a change of direction for a team that struggled in the first half.

“Everyone wants instant gratification,” Bernhard said. “That’s just not the reality, so it’s nice to have nights like tonight where they do get to see a little bit of the fruits of their labor. I really just love the mindset our team has right now. Our record maybe isn’t glamorous to a whole lot, but I don’t think they’re being dissuaded from putting in the work and continuing to fight to see if our team can get better.”