Herald Staff Writer
SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- If it was UND's intention to forget about regional rankings, conference championships and national titles, the Sioux certainly accomplished their mission in a back-to-the-basics 102-53 win over Morningside College on Friday night.
UND's blowout North Central Conference win at Allee Gymnasium improved the Sioux to 8-3 in the league and 17-4 overall.
More important, the Sioux put last week's loss to North Dakota State behind them and played their style -- a wide-open transition game complemented by an aggressive defense.
"That's the way we should play," UND junior Jenny Hoffner said. "We lost to the Bison, but there wasn't a sense of urgency. We just needed to run, set screens, move the ball around and hit three-pointers. "
UND's loss to NDSU all but wrapped up the NCC title and home-court advantage in the North Central Region for the Bison. UND didn't dwell on that possibility during the week.
Instead, the Sioux focused on themselves.
"We know teams still want to beat us, because we're the defending national champion," UND's Mandy Arndtson said. "We just want to get back and having fun again. During the week, we did a lot of scrimmaging in practice, trying to get back into the flow of things. And I think we did that."
UND came off a good week of practice, and it showed.
The Sioux, led by Katie Richards' 20 points, raced to a 51-16 halftime lead. Their defense forced Morningside into seven turnovers in the first 10 minutes and rarely allowed the Mustangs a good look at the basket. The Sioux defense never let up until the final buzzer, evidenced by their 24 steals -- five by Hoffner.
"We came out and played hard, and that's what we needed to do," UND coach Gene Roebuck said.
UND also shot the three-pointer better than it has in weeks. The Sioux made 13-of-26 three-pointers, led by Richards' four. Also, Richards and Jaime Pudenz (15 points) both had four-point plays.
"We looked like we were confident in taking them, too," Roebuck said of UND's three-point shooting. "And we were taking them at the right time."
UND entered on an emotional high, despite its loss to NDSU. The relaxed Sioux had their best practices of the season during the week, highlighted by a 6 a.m. Wednesday session that assistant coach Darcy Cascaes said was the program's best in two years.
Five UND players scored in double figures, led by Richards and Pudenz.
The Mustangs, down to eight players, were led by Mindy Durant's 17 points. Morningside dropped to 0-12 in the NCC and 1-20 overall.
UND 102, Morningside 53
Key play: Jenny Boll's basket 18 seconds into the game.
Key player: Katie Richards, 20 points, 4 blocked shots.
Key stat: UND makes 13-of-26 three-pointers.
| UND (102) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Pudenz | 5-13 | 2-2 | 15 |
| Jones | 1-5 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Haas | 2-4 | 0-0 | 6 |
| Hoffner | 2-3 | 0-0 | 6 |
| Moen | 3-5 | 0-0 | 7 |
| Richards | 7-14 | 2-3 | 20 |
| Arndtson | 4-10 | 3-4 | 11 |
| LeCuyer | 4-9 | 0-0 | 9 |
| Boll | 5-11 | 5-6 | 15 |
| Palbicki | 5-5 | 1-2 | 11 |
| Pick | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 38-79 | 13-17 | 102 |
| Morningside (53) | |||
| Durant | 6-13 | 2-2 | 17 |
| Marx | 3-10 | 1-2 | 8 |
| Thien | 1-15 | 0-0 | 2 |
| McGill | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 |
| Golliharc | 2-9 | 0-0 | 4 |
| Relton | 6-17 | 1-2 | 13 |
| Giesen | 3-6 | 2-3 | 8 |
| Faber | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 21-74 | 7-11 | 53 |
Halftime: North Dakota 51, Morningside 16.
3-point goals: UND 13-26 (LeCuyer 1-1, Pudenz 3-7, Hass 2-3, Moen 1-3, Hoffner 2-3, Richards 4-7, Arndtson 0-2). M 4-8 (Durant 3-5, Marx 1-1, Golliharc 0-1, Relton 0-1).
Rebounds: UND 39 (Arndtson 8, Boll 8), M 58 (Thien 19).
Assists: UND 20 (LeCuyer 4, Hoffner 4), M 4 (Marx 2).
Total fouls: UND 13, M 15.