By Wayne Nelson
Herald Staff Writer
PINE BLUFF, Ark. -- With four minutes to play, the Bentley Falcons were in position to pull the trigger on UND's season. The Falcons, however, lost sight of the Sioux, and UND now is taking aim on another national title.
The Sioux, struggling to overcome Bentley's rock-solid defense, capitalized on two spurts -- covering four minutes -- to win 71-56 here Wednesday in the opening round of the Division II Elite Eight women's basketball tournament.
"I won't say it's the prettiest game we've played," UND coach Gene Roebuck said. "But when we needed big baskets, we got big baskets."
No, the game wasn't pretty. It resembled a rock fight. The Sioux, however, had a few more rocks when it mattered the most. A 12-0 spurt covering three minutes gave the Sioux a 44-35 lead with 14 minutes to play and a 6-0 flurry -- taking one minute -- left UND with a 56-46 advantage with 2:45 left.
That was enough to carry UND into tonight's semifinal matchup against Northern Michigan, an 86-57 winner over Seattle Pacific in the day's first game.
UND struggled offensive for much of the game. The Sioux committed 26 turnovers; their normally fluid offense had difficulty finding 6-foot-3 center Jenny Crouse inside; and their perimeter shots were off target when they had a chance to bury Bentley after the 12-0 run.
"We just couldn't get into our offense," Sioux point guard Jaime Pudenz said. "They took a lot away from us."
Part of that was UND's nerves, but most of it resulted from Bentley's defense. Bentley needed a slower tempo to stay with the Sioux. And a slow tempo was the magic formula in Bentley's 50-49 win over top-ranked St. Rose of New York in the regional final.
"They played really good defense," Roebuck said. "They came out and took a lot of things away. It was like they had seen us play all year."
The teams were tied at 27-27 at halftime. Bentley came out strong in the second half and went up 35-32 on a Bri Fecteau lay-up, resulting from another UND turnover, with 18:04 to play.
UND then came up with its decisive spurt.
Reserve freshman Mandy Arndtson was the catalyst. Two free throws and a 3-pointer from the left baseline gave UND a 37-35 lead. Her 3-pointer came on an in-bounds play.
"They were double-teaming Jaime on the in-bounds and I was wide open," said Arndtson, who scored 16 points. "I was just waving my arms so Katie could see me."
A Jaime Pudenz drive and back-to-back baskets by Crouse, the second coming on a Bentley turnover. Richards capped the run with a free throw with 14:42 left for a 44-35 lead. Still, UND couldn't put Bentley away.
Neither team scored for nearly four minutes after the Sioux run. UND's 9-point lead appeared safe. And it could have been a blowout had the Sioux knocked down some perimeter shots. They didn't.
"We just tried to do too much then," UND's Tiffany Pudenz said. "Coach called a timeout to settle us down. For us to win, we have to be a team that passes the ball around."
Fecteau and Bentley center Danielle Chaisson, who led all scorers with 20 points, cut the gap to 47-44 with 5:03 left. Bentley later trailed 50-46 after C White dropped in two free throws with 3:59 left.
UND then scored six points in the next minute, highlighted by an aggressive offensive rebound and basket by Arndtson.
In the final 2:26, UND put the game away behind Jaime Pudenz' free-throw shooting. The sophomore was 8 of 9 from the line during that stretch.
"It was a ballgame down to the wire," Bentley coach Barbara Stevens said. "The score does not indicate what kind of a game it was."
Crouse and Arndtson led the Sioux with 16 points each. Jaime Pudenz added 15 while Katie Richards, hitting three 3-pointers, finished with 10.
The game was supposed to be the marquee matchup of the opening round as UND is the defending national champion and Bentley was making its eighth nationals' appearance in the last 10 years. And each team had lost only once.
Instead of a marquee game, it was a battle of strong defenses and malfunctioning offenses.
UND's defense proved stronger, so the defense of the national title continues.
| Bentley (56) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Fecteau | 6-13 | 0-0 | 14 |
| Pemberton | 2-6 | 0-2 | 4 |
| Connors | 2-7 | 2-2 | 7 |
| Gallagher | 3-3 | 2-2 | 8 |
| Chaisson | 7-18 | 5-8 | 20 |
| White | 1-4 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Adamian | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Barker | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Bliasdell | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Brown | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 22-56 | 9-14 | 56 |
| UND (71) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| J. Pudenz | 2-9 | 11-13 | 15 |
| Jones | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 |
| T. Pudenz | 2-9 | 3-7 | 9 |
| Winger | 1-3 | 1-2 | 3 |
| Kabanuk | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Richards | 3-8 | 1-2 | 10 |
| Arndtson | 3-9 | 8-10 | 16 |
| Crouse | 7-11 | 2-3 | 16 |
| Totals | 18-51 | 28-39 | 71 |