Omaha City Wire

Tipping Off

Coming off a successful home stand that saw them pick up their third straight win, the Mavericks will be back on the road for three games, starting with North Dakota this Thursday at 7 p.m in Grand Forks, N.D.

The game can be heard on 1180 The Zone with Jon Schriner on the call. Links to live stats, audio and video are available on OMavs.com

Quick Hits

• The Mavericks are back over .500 at 8-7 overall and 3-1 in the Summit League after topping Kansas City, Western Illinois, and St. Thomas, earning three consecutive conference wins for the first time since 2014.
• While Omaha outshot St. Thomas .478 (32-for-67) to .444 (28-for-63), the Tommies did actually have the edge in three-pointers (.435, 10-for-23 vs. .400, 8-for-20) and free throws (.971, 11-for-12 vs. .727, 8-for-11). The Mavericks were able to make up the difference with superior numbers in second chance points (15 to 6) and rebounds (38 to 33).
• Aaliyah Stanley is currently in the midst of one of the greatest stretches ever by a Maverick, scoring 75 points in just her last three games alone. After setting a career-high with 34 against Kansas City, she scored 21 and 20 in her last two games vs. Western Illinois and St. Thomas, respectively. She also scored eight three-pointers in this span and has increased her PPG to 12.7, good for 10th in the Summit League. Stanley's 190 points are also the most on the team and are likewise the 10th most in the league.
• Elena Pilakouta is right behind Stanley in the rankings at 11th in the league with 181 points (12.1 PPG). She had her 11th double-digit scoring game against St. Thomas and also pulled down eight rebounds to give her 102 on the season, the eight most in the Summit. Pilakouta's .545 FG% also slots in at fifth in the league.
• Grace Cave remains in the top five in the conference with 30 steals and 12th in assists with 44, even though she has played two less games than many of those ahead of her in the standings. Cave also had her 10th double-digit scoring game of the season with 16 points on Saturday, giving her 156 (10.4 PPG) this season and only 15 behind her 2021-22 total.
• In two games since returning from injury, Kennedi Grant has been highly effective, recording 20 points, five rebounds, and four assists

Scouting the Fighting Hawks

The Fighting Hawks are 9-6 with a 2-3 record in Summit League play. Earlier this season, they won seven games in a row, including their first two conference games of the year against St. Thomas (70-56) and Western Illinois (69-53). Since then, they have gone 0-3, most recently falling 105-72 at SDSU. Last season, North Dakota went 15-15 overall and 9-9 in the conference, ultimately losing in the first round of the Summit League Tournament to Oral Roberts 61-54.

Senior guard Kacie Borowicz is the Summit League's leading scorer with 22.0 PPG. With 308 points, she is only seven points behind ORU's Hannah Cooper for the most in the league, despite two less games played. She also has not had a game with less than 12 points scored this season and has twice topped 30, including a season-high 35 at Montana.

Graduate student guard Joli Daninger is UND's leading rebounder with 84 total (6.0 RPG), including 22 offensive boards and 62 defensive. She pulled down a season-high 13 vs. Wyoming back in November. She also leads the team with 23 steals, having five consecutive three-steal games from 11/20-12/4.

Graduate student guard/forward Clair Orth paces the Fighting Hawks in FG% (.492) and blocks (eight). She is second on the team with 146 points and scored a season-high 18 vs. St. Thomas.

Head Coach Mallory Bernhard is in her third season at the helm of North Dakota and is the first former Fighting Hawk to ever be named head coach of the team. She currently owns a 26-40 career record.

All-Time Against North Dakota

The Mavericks trail North Dakota 10-51 in the all-time series, dropping both meetings last year after going 2-0 against them in the 2020-21 season. In their first game last season, the Fighting Hawks won 71-57 despite Cave scoring 18 points and recording four steals and five assists. In their second meeting, UND again won 74-61 while Pilakouta just missed a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds.

Original source can be found here.