University of Minnesota Duluth’s women’s basketball team kicked off their first game of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) tournament at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with a 78-64 win over the University of Sioux Falls.

The Bulldogs have had a stellar season thus far. As if NSIC North Division Champions wasn’t enough, UMD boasts by far the highest winning percentage in the entire conference.

Junior Brooke Olson, NSIC North MVP and conference leader in points scored, recorded a game-high 31 points, powering the Bulldogs forward over Sioux Falls. 

Sioux Falls was forced to operate at a disadvantage without a few key players: Cougars’ guard Anna Brecht — who leads the conference in minutes played this season — was not on the roster for today’s game. Dallie Hoskinson — who ranks third in the conference in rebounds — was “severely limited” due to a wrist injury, according to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Following a Sioux Falls tipoff win, UMD senior Ann Simonet scored the game’s first bucket from 3-point range to kick off a Bulldog lead in the first minute.

Though Sioux Falls trailed every minute of the game after Simonet’s first shot, a 22 point difference led to a burst of energy for Sioux Falls. The Cougars managed to cut their deficit down to only eight points with four minutes remaining. The Bulldogs answered, and ended the game with a 14-point lead.

UMD recorded impressive stats, draining nearly 48% of their shots from 3-point range — a vast improvement from their season average of 34% from beyond the line.

The Bulldogs’ aggressive playing style forced Sioux Falls to play deep into the bench. Sioux Falls recorded 20 points from the bench, while UMD saw only eight.

The NSIC decided to limit interdivision play within the conference this year. UMD has not played against Sioux Falls since December of 2019, making what should be a conference rivalry into a partly unfamiliar game.

“Our league is so good, and especially not getting to play any of the South teams … we knew that we needed to be focused coming into today’s game,” Olson said in a post-game press conference.

Head Coach Mandy Pearson noticed that focus and communication helped push the Bulldogs past a tough Sioux Falls team.

“An early lead against Sioux Falls is never a comfortable thing,” Pearson said, while sitting beside Olson after the game. “Sioux Falls made that run and started scoring quite a bit in transition, and we found a way to come together and communicate a little bit better to finish the game.”

UMD’s next game will be played at the Sanford Pentagon Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against the victor of Friday’s matchup between South Division’s Concordia-St. Paul and North Division’s Bemidji State.

“It doesn’t matter who we play next, every team is going to be really tough, so we need to focus,” Pearson concluded.

Though no fans are allowed at the NSIC Tournament, the conference streams games live (as well as recordings of completed games) for free online on the NSIC Network website.