Katie Richards said she hasn't thought much about North Dakota State, which happens to be UND's next opponent.
But the Sioux sophomore forward certainly performed like she was playing against UND's biggest rival.
Richards' 20 points, 10 rebounds and all-around hustle led the No. 4-ranked Sioux to a 100-49 women's basketball win over Moorhead State on Saturday at the Hyslop Sports Center. The win capped UND's non-conference season at 8-1, and set the stage for the North Central Conference opener between the Sioux and Bison.
"We want to leave the non-conference (season) on a good note," Richards said. "It's a good feeling to have. Actually, we haven't talked about the Bison."
Now, however, all talk centers on the Bison, who will be in Grand Forks on Saturday to meet the Sioux.
UND's win over Moorhead served as a final tune-up for the Bison, and the Sioux are hitting on all cylinders. Their transition game devastated Moorhead, which came into the game on an emotional high after beating NCC member St. Cloud State 84-83.
But UND's running game and depth wore out the Dragons, who were led by Kristie Stangl (12 points) and Emily Brosseau (10). The Sioux, however, had five players in double figures, led by Richards and followed by Jaime Pudenz (14), Tiffany Pudenz (13), Mandy Arndtson (12) and Jenny Crouse (11).
But it was the Sioux defense that impressed UND coach Gene Roebuck the most.
"Our defense sets the tone for the offense," Roebuck said. "If we're playing with a high level of intensity on defense, we play a much better transition game."
And the Sioux running game never slowed. In fact, the final four minutes were played at a fast-forward tempo.
UND scored 17 points in the final four minutes to hit the century mark for the third time this season. Jenny Hoffner's fast-break basket with eight seconds to play gave the Sioux 100 points. And the basket capped a flurry of well-executed fastbreaks and sharp 3-point shooting by Hoffner, Arndtson, Tonia Jones, Casey Carroll and Krissi Super.
"We coach for 40 minutes, and we want our players to play for 40 minutes," Roebuck said. "These (reserve) players, at some time in their careers at UND, will be prominent players."
But that role now belongs to UND's regulars.
And one regular who is taking on a new role is Elisha Kabanuk, whose defensive ability earned her a starting assignment. Lately, however, she's taken on the role of a perimeter shooter.
Kabanuk scored eight points, making 3 of 5 from the field. Against Jamestown College on Thursday night, the 5-foot-10 senior made all three of her outside shots.
She hasn't taken a lot of shots, but the ones she's made serves notice that UND now has another outside shooter to complement the Pudenz sisters.
"When I get the ball (opponents) usually are sagging on Jenny (Crouse) or Kami (Winger)," Kabanuk said. "I have to hit those open shots."
The shots fell consistently for nearly all of the Sioux, who made 60 percent of their field-goal attempts in the second half.
But the fact that UND's bench played near-flawless basketball in the final minutes was appreciated by the Sioux regulars.
"It shows that we have a lot of character on this team," Kabanuk said. "The people off the bench are trying to show what they can do when they come in."
They showed a lot on Saturday, and that's not a good sight for NCC opponents.
| Moorhead State (49) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Stangl | 5-11 | 2-2 | 12 |
| Brosseau | 5-13 | 0-4 | 10 |
| Klemz | 3-9 | 3-6 | 9 |
| Uecker | 2-5 | 4-4 | 8 |
| Engledorf | 2-6 | 2-3 | 6 |
| Goll | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Tuton | 1-4 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Totals | 19-52 | 11-19 | 49 |
| UND (100) | |||
| J. Pudenz | 5-11 | 0-1 | 14 |
| Jones | 2-4 | 0-0 | 4 |
| T. Pudenz | 3-9 | 6-7 | 13 |
| Hoffner | 3-6 | 0-0 | 8 |
| Winger | 3-4 | 0-3 | 6 |
| Kabanuk | 3-5 | 0-0 | 8 |
| Carroll | 2-3 | 0-0 | 4 |
| Richards | 9-14 | 0-0 | 20 |
| Arndtson | 4-8 | 2-4 | 12 |
| Crouse | 4-9 | 3-3 | 11 |
| Totals | 38-73 | 11-18 | 100 |