Faber: 5 takeaways from UND's 70-58 loss to St. Thomas — and more

Feb. 22—GRAND FORKS — UND put itself in an early deficit in each quarter of

Saturday afternoon's 70-58 loss to St. Thomas

at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.

The Fighting Hawks trailed 9-0 in the first quarter and stormed back for a 16-14 lead.

They were behind by eight points in the second quarter before graduate guard Mackenzie Hughes made a layup and hit two free throws as the frame wound down.

They fell behind by 10 points in the third quarter, though they cut the deficit in half with a 5-0 run in the final two minutes.

When the Hawks fell behind early in the fourth quarter, though, they were unable to mount a last-minute surge.

Here are five takeaways from the loss.

Lauren Hillesheim was not at 100% on Saturday.

The freshman guard suffered from the flu this week and was not at practice on Friday.

As a result, Hillesheim came off the bench for UND for the first time since Jan. 24.

She played an average of 23.4 minutes per game in seven games as a starter from Jan. 29 to Feb. 15.

Hellesheim played for 13 minutes against the Tommies. She shot 1-for-5 from the field and scored two points.

"She wasn't even remotely (100%)," Hutter said. "It was all related to her just getting healthy. I just didn't really feel like running her into the ground was going to be a good thing for her when we've got to play again on Wednesday."

Senior guard Mikayla Aumer slotted into the starting lineup with Hillesheim on the bench. It was her first start since Jan. 24.

Hutter said Aumer earned the return to a spot in the starting five.

"Mikayla has been phenomenal," Hutter said. "Mikayla has done things the right way all year long. She's never really strayed away from what we've done. Obviously took her out of the starting lineup and she handled that extremely well. She was still a great teammate, did all the right things. And so when there's a chance that you can honor them, even if it's before Senior Night, especially at home, I wanted to do that for her because I thought it was something that she had earned and rightfully deserved as well."

Aumer logged 27 minutes against St. Thomas. Only Hughes and sophomore guard Sydney Piekny had more minutes.

She scored nine points, hitting two triples and shooting 3-for-4 from the free-throw line.

Piekny has a quick release on her 3-point shot. She seems to be able to get the ball out almost as soon as she catches it.

Piekny showed off a bit of that ability against the Tommies. She shot 3-for-5 from beyond the arc on an afternoon when the Hawks hit just seven triples total.

"I think I've got pretty quick feet," Piekny said. "I can get set in my shot pretty fast. I know that even if someone is trailing me out, if they're a step behind me, I know I have the time to get it off. So it helps me with confidence in that way."

Piekny has hit at least two 3-pointers in seven of her last eight games. She was a perfect 5-for-5 against Denver on Jan. 31.

Piekny also nailed four triples en route to her career-high 18 points against Kansas City on Feb. 7.

UND's average turnover margin this season is -7.

That ranks among the worst in all of Division I basketball. According to the

NCAA's statistics

, the Hawks went into Saturday's game ranked 355th in turnover margin.

UND committed 19 turnovers to St. Thomas' 14. That margin is a bit better than the season average, but the Tommies still managed to score 21 points off of turnovers.

It might not have been the driving force in the Hawks' loss, but it certainly didn't help.

"That's what good teams do, they take care of the ball," Hutter said. "We just talk about taking care of the ball and shot making, that 's really what this comes down to. When you are taking care of the ball and you get good looks, you've got to make enough of them to keep yourself in the game or keep the lead."

The Summit League women's basketball tournament begins on March 4 with a contest between No. 8 seed and No. 9 seed. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals to play the No. 1 seed.

If the tournament started today, UND would play in the opening round as the No. 8 seed.

The Hawks are 3-11 in conference play with two games left in the regular season, just ahead of last-place Omaha.

The Mavericks are 2-12 with two games remaining.

Denver is sixth in the league standings and Kansas City is seventh. They are both 4-11 in conference play with one game left on their regular-season schedules.

Although the Los Angeles Rams' front office will not be in attendance, they will gather valuable medical intel and data on free agents. Key upcoming dates include the franchise tag deadline on March 4th, the legal tampering period starting March 9th, and the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh on April 23rd. The Rams hold two first round picks during the event.

Braden Smith showcased his skill in Purdue’s decisive victory over Indiana, catching the eye of ESPN analyst Gus Johnson. Smith’s play earned him a place on Johnson’s coveted “GOT IT” team.