Hawks hang on for Big Sky win over Eastern Washington

But UND survived the second meeting, hanging on for an 81-79 win in a Big Sky Conference game before 1,594 fans at The Betty.

UND survived 21 turnovers, foul trouble on its leading scorer and a constant full-court press that often took the Hawks out of their offensive rhythm in the final 20 minutes.

"You have to fight through things and you have to be tough," said UND coach Travis Brewster. "All I'm trying to do is keep our players tough. They responded to that."

UND improved to 3-5 in the league and 10-9 overall while EWU fell to 5-3 and 10-10.

Lexi Klabo, who battled through foul trouble, again led UND, scoring 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Fallyn Freije added 15 points while Melissa Dailey and Jill Morton each scored 10 as both hit timely perimeter shots in the second half to keep the Eagles from taking the lead.

UND led by 13 points in the second quarter and held a 12-point advantage with 7:34 left in the third quarter. About that time, EWU went to full-court pressure and a zone defense. The Hawks had trouble with the pressure, which led to 32 points for EWU. The Eagles, led by Delaney Hodgins' 28 points, cut the lead to one point twice in the fourth quarter.

But a three-pointer by Freije and another by Morton allowed the Hawks to hang on.

"When our players are playing together like they've been doing, we can have some success," added Brewster. "We lost our composure a bit but we battled back. We made key baskets and shot 57 percent from the floor.

Both teams cashed in at the free throw line in a game that saw 47 fouls. The Hawks were 26 of 35 from the line while EWU was 22 of 25.

"I felt like the second half was really long," said Klabo. "But it was a step in the right direction for us. It was a good win."