There was Purple talk to start the day.
And then after the game, the Punt or Pass.
Who'd a thunk that a final minute loss against the #7 team in the country would not be the top story of the week in the Herd. The young bunch on the men's side is still 0 - for the year but in a weeks time they made some major strides. Tyler Witz was the only member of the team to get on the court and not contribute offensively, but he was only out there for two minutes which indicates a very short leash because no injury news came across the thread.
That's a great team effort that will add some expectation going forward!
But as I said, they were not the main attraction this week.
That distinction goes the way of the women.
They started the week with a familiar foe to the building to the North but not so much the rest of the athletics department. Well, NDSU took care of Northern Iowa in a similar fashion as the Football team, with star-in-the-making Heaven Hamling making her debut with 20 points and activity across the stat sheet. She was joined a top the box score by Emily Dietz with 20 & 8 as they went start to finish, winning 85 - 68.
Then came the first doubleheader of the year as Green Bay spent the weekend in town. In contrast to the opener where she didn't score until late, Michelle Gaislerova paced everyone with 23 points, including 7-10 from behind the arc. Hamling chipped in 12 with 7 boards & 4 steals while Dietz grabbed 11, including 5 on offense. They won that one 59 - 51.
In the Sunday capper, Hamling (17 w/ 6 assists) & Gaislerova (11) carried the scoring weight for the starters. But unlike the first two contests, Olivia Skibiel & Abby Schulte were significant contributors off the bench. The former scored 71 points total in 27 games last season but the sophomore tied for the lead today with 17. In only her third game coming out of Maple Grove, Schulte added 16.
Fargo started the weekend early against Lincoln.
It took until late in the second period but Jeremy Davidson scored the first of four goals while Brennan Boynton locked down the home net. The three final goals came in the final 3.5 minutes by Mason Salquist, Tristan Broz & Casey McDonald.
The rematch also had Boynton at the net but it was Lincoln that struck first. Fargo responded with the next two, by Kyle Smolen & Erik Bargholtz as the only scores until the third. Lincoln regained the advantage with two in a row before Fargo went on another large run. With 3:02 remaining, Ryan Richardson got the last equalizer before Salquist scored his fifth and sixth of the year.
The Saturday finale had Andrew Miller guarding the net and he also held up well against the attack. Richardson struck again, this time six minutes into the action. Lincoln managed one of their goals a few minutes later but couldn't stop Fargo from hammering five goals in. Richardson scored his fifth of the year which was followed by Ryan Siedem's second & Trevor Griebel's first, both from the defense. Jacob Braccini netted his fourth and Austin Wong scored his third to make it a 6-1 game which ended 6-2.
With 45 games yet to be played Fargo has already begun to build nice a lead over Omaha. Those two will meet for a one-off in early January but Fargo will be on the road until the 29th when Sioux City comes to town for one game.
The pre-Winter break hasn't stopped high school level news from happening.
If you aren't already, hit the Twit for the college commitments that happen on a weekly basis!
As for the upcoming seasons, with days winding down until đ is back, this year's robust set of previews have already begun to drop. ICYMT, Davies boys were first off the blocks, followed shortly there-after by West Fargo's pair. Then, just ahead of the weekend South's teams got in the mix, with several more primed for release over the next week!
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