March 24, 2001
ROCHESTER, MN — Cal Poly Pomona freshman center Aprile Powell scored five of her game-high 26 points in overtime to lead the Broncos to an 87-80 win over North Dakota on Saturday in the NCAA Division II women’s basketball championship game.
Cal Poly Pomona used a nearly perfect shooting performance in overtime to outscore the Sioux 18-11 in the extra stanza. The Broncos made all four of their field goal attempts, including two three-pointers, in overtime and also converted eight of nine free throws.
In regulation, Cal Poly Pomona made only seven of 18 free throws.
For Cal Poly Pomona (27-3), the national title was the school’s fourth but first since 1986. North Dakota finished 29-4 after making it to the NCAA Division II championship game for the fourth time in five years. The loss snapped UND’s 11-game Elite Eight winning streak.
The Sioux led 59-50 with 6:14 left in regulation after UND’s Jenny Boll (So., Crookston, Minn.) scored on a layup and converted a free throw for a three-point play.
The Broncos scored the next eight points, however, as Powell hit four free throws to narrow UND’s lead to 59-58.
A layup by Becky Moen (So., Morris, Minn.) upped the Sioux lead to 61-58, and after Powell hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 61, Moen answered 10 seconds later with a three-pointer that made it 64-61.
UND led 69-65 with 1:50 to play, but Cal Poly Pomona’s Burgundie Porter scored on a layup with 1:32 to play, and Broncos’ point guard LaTasha Burnett made a layup with 33 seconds that tied it, 69-69.
The Sioux had a chance to win in regulation, but a shot by Theresa LeCuyer (Sr., Anoka, Minn.) bounced off the rim with five seconds left.
Cal Poly Pomona’s Anna James opened the scoring in overtime with a three-pointer that made it 72-69 with 4:25 to play, and the Broncos never trailed after that.
UND’s Mandy Arndtson (Sr., Austin, Minn.) made two free throws with 2:13 to play, but Powell hit a 22-foot three-pointer that increased the Broncos’ lead to 79-74 with 1:54 left. LeCuyer cut the margin to three points (81-78) with 1:04 to play, but Burnett hit a jump shot with 35 seconds left to make it 83-78, and the Sioux never got closer than five points again.
In the first half, UND jumped out to a 12-0 lead, and Cal Poly Pomona did not score until Powell scored on a short jump shot 3:10 into the game. The Sioux continued their offensive onslaught and led 23-7 with 11 minutes to play in the half. Boll scored 10 of her points during that stretch.
Cal Poly Pomona responded by outscoring North Dakota 23-6 in the next 8:29 to grab a 30-29 lead with 2:31 to play in the half. The Sioux scored the last six points of the half to lead 35-34 at intermission.
Boll led UND with 25 points, tying a career high. Four other Sioux players scored in double figures, including Moen (16 points), LeCuyer (15), Jenny Hoffner (Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.) (13) and Arndtson (10).
Powell led all players with 18 rebounds, and Arndtson led UND with 14 rebounds. UND had 50 rebounds to Cal Poly Pomona’s 46 rebounds.
Cal Poly Pomona shot 47.1 percent from the field (33-of-70), and North Dakota shot 36.4 percent from the field (28-of-77).
Moen, Arndtson and Boll were each named to the Elite Eight all-tournament team, along with Powell and Burnett from Cal Poly Pomona and Jessie Gordon from Shippensburg. Powell was named the most valuable player of the Elite Eight.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS #12 Cal Poly Pomona vs #7 North Dakota 3-24-01 3:30 p.m. at Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, Minn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: #12 Cal Poly Pomona 27-3 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 05 Burnett, LaTasha.... * 8-12 1-1 2-7 2 4 6 4 19 3 0 0 5 33 21 Porter, Burgundie... * 5-13 1-5 4-4 5 1 6 3 15 3 4 0 1 35 24 McIntosh, Lauri..... * 5-11 0-0 2-4 1 6 7 5 12 2 6 1 1 33 32 James, Anna......... * 2-6 1-4 0-0 1 3 4 1 5 2 3 1 2 42 54 Powell, Aprile...... * 9-16 2-3 6-8 3 15 18 3 26 1 3 2 2 43 30 Richards, Margot.... 0-3 0-0 1-4 2 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 17 31 Kennedy, Kim........ 2-4 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 2 5 1 1 0 0 13 35 Rasheed, Salma...... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 7 40 Bergeson, Deanna.... 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 TEAM................ 2 1 3 Totals.............. 33-70 6-17 15-27 16 30 46 20 87 12 18 4 11 225 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-33 .455 2nd Half: 14-33 .424 Game: .471 DEADBALL 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 .286 2nd Half: 2-8 .250 Game: .353 REBOUNDS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-7 .286 2nd Half: 5-11 .455 Game: .556 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: #7 North Dakota 29-4 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 03 LeCuyer, Theresa.... * 6-19 1-4 2-4 5 2 7 4 15 6 3 1 1 30 10 Jones, Tonia........ * 0-3 0-0 1-2 2 0 2 4 1 1 1 0 1 30 24 Hoffner, Jenny...... * 5-12 3-8 0-0 0 6 6 3 13 0 2 0 0 38 43 Arndtson, Mandy..... * 2-9 0-1 6-6 4 10 14 4 10 5 4 2 1 45 44 Boll, Jenny......... * 9-17 0-0 7-7 6 2 8 4 25 2 4 0 2 43 21 Leighton, Marisa.... 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 22 Moen, Becky......... 6-14 1-1 3-4 1 2 3 1 16 1 3 1 2 29 55 Palbicki, Janel..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 4 TEAM................ 3 7 10 Totals.............. 28-77 5-14 19-23 21 29 50 23 80 15 18 4 7 225 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-34 .382 2nd Half: 12-35 .343 Game: .364 DEADBALL 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-7 .429 2nd Half: 2-4 .500 Game: .357 REBOUNDS F Throw % 1st Half: 6-8 .750 2nd Half: 8-9 .889 Game: .826 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: David Kramer, Lois Holmes, Patti Fernandes Technical fouls: #12 Cal Poly Pomona-None. #7 North Dakota-None. Attendance: 3387 Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total #12 Cal Poly Pomona........... 34 35 18 - 87 #7 North Dakota............... 35 34 11 - 80 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship Game ... Cal Poly Pomona won NCAA Championships in 1982, 1985, 1986 and 2001 North Dakota won NCAA Championships in 1997, 1998 and 1999 Total attendance for three-day tournament: 11,087