By Wayne Nelson
Herald Staff Writer
UND saved its best for last.
And UND's best is too much for nearly every NCAA Division II women's basketball opponent to handle.
In perhaps UND's most impressive display of basketball during its past two national-championship seasons, the Sioux steamrolled North Dakota State 83-60 on Sunday night in the North Central Region title game before 3,541 roaring fans at Hyslop Sports Center.
The win advances No. 1-ranked UND to the Elite Eight tournament March 17-20 in Pine Bluff, Ark., where the Sioux will defend their national title. The Sioux will play Kennesaw (Ga.) State in the first game of the tournament.
"We're going to Pine Bluff, and that's all that matters," said UND's Katie Richards, who turned the game in the second half with her torrid outside shooting.
Richards, who was 10-of-16 from the field, scored a game-high 26 points and her shooting during UND's decisive 15-2 second-half run turned the game into an unexpected blowout. Richards scored nine of the 15 points, including the first eight.
"Everything was feeling good," Richards said. "And everyone was setting screens for me."
The Sioux run came after Molly Reif's 3-pointer cut UND's lead to 42-37 with 15:52 to play. The Sioux, however, shot 68 percent in the second half, and at one point were 18-of-25 from the field.
"I don't know if we can get any better than that," UND coach Gene Roebuck said. "Once we got going in the second half, our players turned it on. And we got in transition very well."
Richards wasn't the only player to step to the front. Kami Winger scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds in perhaps her best Sioux performance; Tonia Jones, who came up big defensively in last year's region title game, scored 13 points -- most of them on transition -- and added six assists; and Jaime Pudenz, who scored timely baskets throughout, added 12.
Jenny Crouse scored 10 points, though she spent a good portion of the game in foul trouble.
There wasn't much cold-shooting NDSU (28 percent) could do to stop the Sioux.
"Not only did they shoot well, they shot well when we had a hand in their face," NDSU coach Amy Ruley said. "And we couldn't make a layup at the other end. You put those two things together, and you won't get a win against a team like UND."
UND never trailed but had to work for everything it got in the first half. The Sioux led 38-27 at the break and their best play came during a 7-0 run. Winger started the run with an inside basket. And the 6-foot-2 senior then turned in the play of the game. While on the floor, she somehow recovered a loose basketball, flipping it to Richards.
Richards then flipped a pass to Jones, who fired a perimeter pass to Pudenz, who drilled a 3-pointer.
Jones finished the run with a fast-break basket for a 33-23 lead with 1:47 left.
The Bison, led by Even's 24 points, managed to stay close. Even scored the first seven NDSU points of the second half. And when Reif nailed her 3-pointer from the right corner, cutting UND's lead to five, the Bison had confidence.
But the Sioux responded with their best play of the season. Their 15-2 run, backing by their roaring fans, ended any hope of NDSU returning to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1996.
"(UND) was on tonight," Even said. "There wasn't much we could do. It's hard to stop a team when they're on a mission."
NDSU handed UND its lone loss of the season, an 87-83 setback in Fargo on Jan. 30. This game was far different from the shootout in Fargo. UND's defense controlled NDSU's fluid inside players. "The Sioux were leaving people open in their defensive scheme, and we weren't taking advantage of that," Ruley said.
Also, the Sioux continually attacked the basket, something they didn't do in Fargo.
"We knew what we wanted to do," Winger said. "We weren't going to let the Bison take advantage of us again."
The Sioux, who shot 58 percent overall, were 8-of-16 on 3-pointers and outrebounded the Bison (43-42). In UND's loss at Fargo, NDSU controlled the boards and also shot well.
The Sioux didn't say it, but they wanted another chance at the Bison after they beat Augustana in Saturday night's semifinal round.
"We didn't play well in Fargo," Pudenz said. "I didn't play well. I wanted another chance to redeem myself."
She did. The Sioux did.
| UND (83) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Pudenz | 5-11 | 0-1 | 12 |
| Jones | 5-5 | 3-4 | 13 |
| Hoffner | 3-6 | 0-0 | 8 |
| Winger | 5-9 | 2-4 | 12 |
| Carroll | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Richards | 10-16 | 2-3 | 26 |
| Crouse | 5-8 | 0-0 | 10 |
| Leno | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Hoffman | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Super | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 34-60 | 7-12 | 83 |
| NDSU (60) | |||
| Burns | 2-8 | 2-2 | 8 |
| Reif | 2-9 | 0-0 | 5 |
| Amundson | 1-4 | 1-2 | 4 |
| Gehrke | 1-5 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Boeddeker | 4-10 | 0-1 | 8 |
| Stefonowicz | 0-6 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Ulstad | 2-8 | 2-2 | 6 |
| Lang | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Berry | 1-7 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Even | 8-16 | 4-4 | 24 |
| Totals | 21-74 | 9-11 | 60 |