Defeating a team three times in one season is a hard task to accomplish and the University of Minnesota Duluth headed into its North Central Conference tournament quarterfinal game against No. 5-ranked University of North Dakota on Wednesday night hoping the third meeting between the two squads would yield a win but the Sioux bounced the Bulldogs from the playoffs with a 69-61 victory in Grand Forks, N.D.

The first half of the game proved to be one that kept the fans on the edge of their seats as the Bulldogs (4-23) and the Sioux (26-2) played to four ties and numerous lead changes with North Dakota taking a 32-26 lead into the break.

The Sioux jumped out to an 11-point advantage, 40-29, just three minutes into the second half of the contest but the Bulldogs made it just a three point game, 42-39, at the 14:02 mark.

North Dakota held a narrow lead for much of the second half and the Bulldogs pulled within one, 55-54, with just 6:23 left to go in the game.

The Bulldogs rally attempt brought them within six points, 67-61, with just 37 seconds to go but the Sioux held UMD scoreless and scored on a lay-up as time expired to secure the playoff win.

Sophomore guard/forward Jordanne Even scored a team-high 13 points and junior guard Stephanie Reiter chipped in 11 points to lead the Bulldogs in scoring.

UMD’s senior trio of Katy Freeman, Alissa Pauly and Kim Wagers tallied eight points apiece in their final collegiate basketball game. Kelsey Hewitt, a freshman forward for UMD, tallied eight points as well.

Wagers pulled down a team-best nine rebounds and Pauly had a team-high four assists.

UMD shot 39.7 percent from the field for the game while North Dakota shot 43.5 percent. Each squad committed 14 turnovers apiece in the contest.

North Dakota defeated the Bulldogs two other times this season, 106-49 on Feb. 16 and 78-69 on March 1.



UMD finishes the season 4-23 overall and 1-11 in the NCC.