By Wayne Nelson
Herald Staff Writer
Fargo Forum championship game recap
The Courier (Russellville, AK) championship game recap
PINE BLUFF, Ark. -- Arkansas Tech coach Joe Foley couldn't have asked for much more. His undersized, depth-depleted Golden Suns went tooth-and-nail with No. 1-ranked UND for 30 minutes.
"It took that ballclub that's still out on the floor to beat us," Foley said, referring to UND, which was in the midst of its annual postgame celebration."I don't think there is any other team in the country that could have beaten us today."
Foley had a point. The Golden Suns, a team with nothing to prove, pushed UND to the limit.
But UND had a point to prove, too. The Sioux wanted to become one of the all-time powers of NCAA Division II women's basketball. And when push came to shove, UND was the last team standing once again.
The Sioux, behind a smothering second-half defense, beat Tech 80-63 on Saturday in the championship game of the NCAA Elite Eight women's basketball tournament before 3,135 fans at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
The national title was the third straight for UND and perhaps its most difficult to achieve, considering key injuries limited the team's traditional depth.
"We had to work very, very hard," UND coach Gene Roebuck said of a win that many expected to be a blowout."It was a great game. This was the first time I had the chance to coach against Joe Foley, and it's easy to see why his team always is in the national scene. His team came to play.
"I knew this game wouldn't be easy. I give them a lot of credit for making us work. But I give credit to our players, too."
Tech gave UND all it could handle in the first half. The Suns, who made eight of their first 12 shots, ran their complex half-court offense to near perfection. Despite giving up size at nearly every position, the Suns' complex screening gave the Sioux fits inside.
Khelli Mullen's basket at the 6:02 mark gave the Suns their biggest lead at 34-28. But the Sioux went on a 7-0 run before Mullen scored again inside for a 36-35 lead.
But Jenny Crouse, who has rescued the Sioux time and again throughout her career, scored at 2:45 to give UND a 37-36 lead. The Sioux led by four (41-37) at halftime but could not put the Suns away until the final 10 minutes.
"We weren't surprised by the way they hit their shots early,"UND's Katie Richards said."But we were surprised at the number of screens they set. They probably set four (screens) for every shot they took.
"They came out and played with no fear, and you have to respect that. We just needed to calm down and play our kind of defense."
The Sioux did just that in the second half, making it difficult for the Suns, led by A.J. Thomas' 16 points, to get decent shots."The last 10 minutes, they really picked it up defensively, and that was the difference,"Foley said.
And UND's offense did its job, too.
Laura Buss' put-back at 11:22 pulled Tech to within 58-52, but it was all UND after that.
Crouse, named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player for the second straight year, scored back-to-back baskets followed by a Tonia Jones' fast-break basket for a 64-52 lead with 7:58 left. Crouse led the Sioux with 24 points.
The clinching baskets, both 3-pointers, came from Richards -- after she grabbed an offensive rebound -- and from Jenny Hoffner. The baskets came in a span of 1:29. Hoffner's trey put UND up 70-57 with 6:54 left.
"To win championships, you have to have someone step up who you don't expect to step up,"Roebuck said."Hoffner hit key 3-pointers and (Jones) did a good job of taking the ball to the glass."
And, then there was Kami Winger, whose 17 rebounds led the Sioux to a whopping 49-27 advantage on the boards.
After the Sioux went up by 13, they continued to play hard defensively. The Suns managed only two points in the last 4:30.
"Defense won this game,"Roebuck said."I thought we played about as well defensively as we could."
Four UND players were in double figures, led by Crouse. Jaime Pudenz (14 points), Richards (13) and Jones (12) also were in double figures. But the points from Pudenz were a major bonus, considering the junior guard played most of the Elite Eight on a sprained right ankle.
She gutted it out, as did the Sioux against a team that wasn't expected to make it past the South Region tournament.
The Sioux (31-1), however, were expected to win their third straight national title. And it perhaps was the best of the three for seniors Crouse, Winger and Casey Carroll.
"It was a good way to go out,"Crouse said.
UND
41 39 - 80
Arkansas Tech 37 26
- 63
| UND | FG | FT | Reb | ||||
| Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | PF | A | Pts | |
| Pudenz | 39 | 4-9 | 6-6 | 1-4 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
| Jones | 37 | 5-9 | 2-6 | 1-3 | 0 | 8 | 12 |
| Hoffner | 13 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| Richards | 33 | 4-8 | 2-2 | 3-6 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| Crouse | 33 | 11-18 | 2-5 | 5-12 | 3 | 1 | 24 |
| Winger | 27 | 1-4 | 3-4 | 4-17 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Carroll | 15 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Leno | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Super | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hoffman | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Reb. | 0-4 | ||||||
| Totals | 200 | 30-58 | 11-15 | 15-49 | 11 | 19 | 80 |
Percentages: FG .517, FT .652
3-Point FG: 5-11 .455 (Richards 3-4, Hoffner 2-4, Pudenz 0-3)
Turnovers: 17 (Richards 5, Winger 5, Jones 3)
Blocks: 4 (Crouse 4)
Steals: 4 (Pudenz, Richards, Crouse, Winger)
| Arkansas Tech | FG | FT | Reb | ||||
| Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | PF | A | Pts | |
| Lasater | 39 | 4-11 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| Huskey | 39 | 2-9 | 1-2 | 1-5 | 3 | 7 | 5 |
| Harris | 20 | 5-9 | 1-1 | 1-3 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| Thomas | 29 | 7-10 | 2-2 | 0-3 | 4 | 1 | 16 |
| Mullen | 39 | 6-18 | 1-1 | 3-5 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| Buss | 30 | 4-11 | 0-2 | 3-7 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Hodges | 2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Compton | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Compton | 1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Reb. | 2-2 | ||||||
| Totals | 200 | 28-70 | 5-8 | 10-27 | 18 | 20 | 63 |
Percentages: FG .400, FT .625
3-Point FG: 2-11 .182 (Lasater 2-5, Huskey 0-3, Mullen 0-2, Buss 0-1)
Turnovers: 10 (Thomas 4, Mullen 2, Huskey 2)
Blocks: 0
Steals: 5 (Huskey, Harris, Thomas, Mullen, Buss)
Attendance - 3, 135