UND women's basketball has mixed news on health
· Yahoo Sports
Feb. 11—GRAND FORKS — The injury bug hit UND hard last week.
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Freshman guard London Harris exited Thursday's road game against Omaha in the fourth quarter with an injury.
Senior center Walker Demers was absent against Bismarck State, Omaha and Kansas City.
Head coach Dennis Hutter said Demers will be back this week after "dealing with an illness that she just couldn't fight off and get rid of." She returned to practice on Monday.
Harris' injury is week-to-week. She is unlikely to return against South Dakota State on Thursday or North Dakota State on Sunday.
"London's going to be week-to-week, kind of see where she's at," Hutter said. "Really tough kid. We'll get her back, it's just a matter of when. I highly doubt she'll be back for anything this week, as far as playing for us."
Harris had just carved out a role in the starting lineup. She made four consecutive starts from Jan. 29 to Feb. 5 and averaged 8.5 points per game in that stretch.
Harris is averaging 4.9 points on the year.
Hutter also confirmed that freshman guard Kendra Harvey is out for the season.
She played from Nov. 4 to Dec. 3, but was absent for over a month due to an ankle injury. She returned for two contests, playing for three minutes against Omaha on Jan. 8 and four minutes against Kansas City on Jan. 10.
"That ankle just never got to a point where she was able to be the Kendra that we know she can be," Hutter said. "The explosive, physical kid that can defend and get downhill. So same sort of thing, with the ability to come back and get this year back and have four years still to play, we just felt it was best to just shut her down a little bit and get her into the rehab and get her with (physical therapy), and try to get her ready for spring workouts."
Harvey averaged 2.6 points and 11.4 minutes per game this season.
She joined redshirt sophomore guard Addison Klosterbuer as players who are officially done for the season.
The Hawks went 1-1 this week, excluding Sunday's contest against Bismarck State.
The Hawks suffered a 58-54 loss to Omaha and beat Kansas City 68-58.
"There's going to be adversity all the time," Hutter said. "Unfortunately, injuries are something that almost every team has to deal with. It's not a fun situation, but we always talk about next player up. ... We spent a lot of time talking about next player up.
"We're not a one-player team. We have 16 players on our team that all contribute to our team and impact our team in a positive way. And we just tell them, when your opportunity comes, you've got to seize the moment. I think you're seeing some young kids that are getting an opportunity and seizing that moment."
Mataeya Mathern, a 5-foot-11 sophomore guard, featured prominently in both games.
Mathern scored a career-high 12 points against the Mavericks and made her first career start against the Roos.
"She's just all about effort and attitude, she epitomizes what we're all about in this program," Hutter said. "She found herself in a situation where when someone like Walker is gone and then unfortunately London goes down, she gets thrust into that lineup a little bit, and again, doesn't show fear, just steps up and embraces the opportunity that was in front of her. She's someone that's been doing it right for the two years that I've been here."
Demers' return comes at a pivotal time. UND will play two of the best teams in the Summit League this week.
Demers is averaging 10.6 points this year, second only to graduate guard Mackenzie Hughes.