North Dakota State Athletics
13-12, 8-7
Oakland
15-12, 12-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota State | 28 | 28 | 56 |
| Oakland | 31 | 39 | 70 |
Watterworth, Oakland Wear Down North Dakota State 70-56
2/20/2010 6:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ROCHESTER, Mich.--Bethany Watterworth scored 11 of her 17 points in second half including seven during an important stretch as Oakland University wore down North Dakota State 70-56 in a Summit League women's basketball game played Saturday, Feb. 20, before 815 fans in the Athletics Center O'Rena.
NDSU (13-12, 8-7 Summit) is scheduled to play IPFW (13-14, 10-6 Summit) at 6 p.m. (Central) Monday, Feb. 22, in the Hilliard Gates Sports Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Mastodons lost 76-65 to South Dakota State on Saturday.
Trailing 31-28 at halftime, North Dakota State bolted out of the gate to start the second half and went on a 12-6 run to take a 40-37 lead with 15:41 left when Katie Birkel found Whitney Trecker open for a fastbreak layup.
Oakland (14-12, 11-4 Summit) rallied behind Watterworth to put together a 17-4 run over the next six minutes to build a 54-44 lead and to put the game out of reach. OU has won five straight from the Bison.
Melissa Jeltema scored on an offensive rebound falling backwards to give the Golden Grizzlies the lead for good, 41-40, with 14:04 remaining. Jeltema scored all 10 of her points in the second half.
Watterworth scored seven of her points after that on a series of jumpers including a three-pointer to help Oakland widen the margin.
The Golden Grizzlies hit 53.6 percent from the field in the second half and 51.9 percent for the game. Oakland scored 21 points off 17 Bison turnovers. North Dakota State made 42.6 percent from the field.
OU held a 35-25 rebounding advantage including 19-10 in the final period. Ashley Samuelson grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for NDSU to go with 12 points.
North Dakota State was led by the game-high 21 points from Birkel, who scored 15 points during a first half duel with Oakland's Sharise Calhoun. Calhoun scored all 14 of her points in the opening period. Birkel added four steals, while Trecker had a career-high four assists.
