SIOUX FALLS, S.D. Jaime Pudenz sat in the UND locker room at halftime, knowing she had something to prove.
"In the first half, I wasn't playing up to my capabilities, and I knew it," Pudenz said. "I sat and thought about it. I felt like I had to take over."
Pudenz took over, carrying UND to a 69-58 North Central Conference women's basketball victory over Augustana Saturday.
The Vikings earned the distinction of being the only NCC team to push the Sioux. In its previous six NCC games, UND had comfortable halftime leads and was on its way to lopsided wins.
Augustana played hard and was within 60-56 when Pudenz hit a 3-pointer at the 1:50 mark, and that all but sealed the win.
"A game like this was good for our team," said Pudenz, who scored all of her 13 points in the second half. "We needed a little pressure to see how we would react down the stretch."
Pudenz, who was 0-for-3 in the first half, reacted much like she did late last season in guiding the Sioux to their national title. The Sioux led 42-41 when Pudenz hit her first field goal. She nailed a 3-pointer on UND's next possession, giving UND a 47-43 lead.
And at the 8:11 mark, the 5-foot-5 sophomore guard hit a long 3-pointer for a 53-46 lead.
Augustana never came closer than four points after that.
UND's play in the first half wasn't pretty. Augustana took away UND's transition game, and the Sioux had trouble defending the Vikings' Nicole Tendler, who scored 13 of her team-high 19 points in the opening 20 minutes.
Still, UND led 34-32 at halftime, thanks mostly to the play of reserve Mandy Arndtson, who led the Sioux with 15 points. The 5-11 freshman scored 11 in the first half.
"I felt the pressure, but when you're under pressure, you can't be afraid to lose," Arndtson said.
Arndtson hit both of her 3-point attempts to help wipe out a 5-point Viking lead midway through the first half.
"If I didn't take the shots when I was open, I'd just be hurting the team," Arndtson said. "If I don't shoot, the other team knows it doesn't have to guard me."
UND's play in the second half was crisper, yet the Sioux couldn't pull away. Augustana received strong post play from Sara Yager, who scored 9 of her 11 points in the second half.
"I thought Augustana played real hard in the first half," UND coach Gene Roebuck said. "They got the loose basketballs and outworked us. But in the second half, we worked real hard for the win.
"We didn't get frustrated down the stretch. It wasn't pretty, but it was a win."
Besides Pudenz and Arndtson, Tiffany Pudenz (13 points) and Jenny Crouse (12) also scored in double figures for UND.
Augustana coach Dave Krauth said the Vikings' win over North Dakota State on Friday may have taken its toll Saturday. "We were a little tired," Krauth said. "Coming down the stretch, we made some poor decisions on defense and we had some turnovers."
But the Vikings reaffirmed what Roebuck has been telling his team all season. The Sioux, who had been outscoring NCC teams by 36.2 points per game, aren't guaranteed a blowout win every night.
"I've been telling our players before every game that our opponent is capable of beating us," Roebuck said. "Now, when I tell them a team can beat us, maybe they'll listen."
The Sioux probably will listen to Roebuck this week. UND plays host to Northern Colorado on Friday night. Like the Sioux, Northern Colorado is 7-0 in the NCC.
| UND (69) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| J. Pudenz | 5-10 | 0-0 | 5 |
| Jones | 0-2 | 2-2 | 2 |
| T. Pudenz | 5-13 | 0-0 | 13 |
| Winger | 1-4 | 2-2 | 4 |
| Kabanuk | 2-2 | 0-0 | 5 |
| Richards | 2-4 | 0-0 | 4 |
| Arndtson | 5-11 | 2-3 | 15 |
| Crouse | 5-8 | 2-4 | 12 |
| Totals | 25-54 | 8-11 | 69 |
| Augustana (58) | |||
| Stratton | 2-11 | 0-0 | 4 |
| Meyer | 4-9 | 0-0 | 9 |
| Yager | 4-13 | 3-5 | 11 |
| Keegen | 0-0 | 3-4 | 3 |
| Tendler | 7-13 | 3-7 | 19 |
| Kramer | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Reidburn | 1-2 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Janssen | 4-6 | 1-4 | 9 |
| Totals | 22-56 | 10-20 | 58 |