PINE BLUFF, Ark. -- UND needed someone to take charge. Its ship, on the brink of becoming the Titanic in Division II women's basketball, appeared to be sinking.
There wasn't one player, however, who came to the rescue. Instead, every UND player who was on the court the last six minutes of the game helped set the Sioux back on course.
UND's play in the final six minutes contained a smothering defense, a clock-efficient offense and some giant-sized heart as the Sioux earned a chance to defend its national title with a 79-69 win over Northern Michigan here Thursday night in the semifinal round of the Elite Eight tournament.
UND, 30-1, will play for the national title Saturday afternoon. This marks the eighth straight year that either UND or North Dakota State has appeared in the Division II championship game.
"We played a gutsy game," UND coach Gene Roebuck said. "When it was time to check what was inside us during the last six minutes, we stepped it up. Northern Michigan took us to the brink, but we played with a lot of heart down the stretch."
UND's seemingly safe 43-32 halftime lead was anything but secure. The Wildcats' Mandee Dafoe and Carrie Dykstra engineered a comeback that gave Northern Michigan a 58-57 lead with 9:39 to play. "We were playing not to lose instead of playing to win," Roebuck said.
The Sioux, for one of the few times this season, had lost their composure. The Sioux rediscovered their poise, however, down the stretch, thanks to the steadying play of point guard Jaime Pudenz.
But the drive to the title game was started by Mandy Arndtson's baseline drive, leading to a Jenny Crouse lay-up for a 61-59 lead with 7:10 left. UND then held Northern Michigan to only two points in the next six minutes.
Arndtson struggled with her game until her key assist. "I was thinking about taking the shot, but Jenny's player left her to guard me. That left Jenny wide open."
The play seemed to take the burden off of the Sioux shoulders.
Katie Richards, who tied Pudenz for team scoring honors with 19 points, gave UND a 63-60 lead on a drive at 6:22. Arndtson then followed with a 3-pointer for a 66-60 advantage with five minutes remaining.
"Mandy's drive was a huge play," said Pudenz, who played all 40 minutes. "It felt like we hadn't scored for a long time."
Crouse finished off the play, scoring the lay-up. Then, the 6-foot-3 junior finished off Northern Michigan's season with her dominating defensive play in the final six minutes. Dafoe and Dykstra had success scoring inside, combining for 41 points, but that success stopped when Crouse came up big defensively a handful of times after the Sioux grabbed the lead for good.
"It's difficult to shoot over Crouse," Northern Michigan coach Mike Geary said. "You have to go around her."
Geary said the Wildcats had their chances in the final six minutes. "We got shots," Geary said. "But we missed the shots and it definitely was due to their defensive pressure."
The Sioux handled the pressure of the final six minutes by simply relaxing.
"We just relaxed and relied more on each other," said Crouse, whose 22 rebounds was a school record and one short of the NCAA single-game tournament record. "We knew we'd be OK."
Crouse also scored 17 points to go with her defensive play. But getting shots was difficult for Crouse -- and the Sioux -- against Northern Michigan's defense. Crouse was held to only six field-goal attempts, and as a team, the Sioux had only 48 -- 28 fewer than Northern Michigan.
However, after Arndtson's 3-pointer gave UND its 66-60 lead, the Wildcats never came closer than four points in the final four minutes. As in its win over Bentley (Mass.) College on Wednesday, UND's efficient free throw shooting protected its lead in the closing minutes.
The Sioux, who also picked up 13 points from Tiffany Pudenz, made 24 of their 48 shots and also outrebounded the Wildcats 48-35.
UND's play in the final minutes impressed Geary.
"They played like champions the last six minutes," Geary said.
| Northern Michigan (69) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Tunney | 0-5 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Johnston | 2-4 | 1-2 | 6 |
| Manske | 5-11 | 1-2 | 12 |
| Dykstra | 6-15 | 5-5 | 17 |
| Dafoe | 9-29 | 5-8 | 24 |
| Strand | 3-11 | 2-3 | 8 |
| Weber | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Edgarton | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Leverentz | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 26-76 | 14-20 | 69 |
| UND (79) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| J. Pudenz | 6-10 | 4-5 | 19 |
| Jones | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| T. Pudenz | 4-12 | 4-5 | 13 |
| Winger | 1-2 | 3-5 | 5 |
| Kabanuk | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Richards | 7-11 | 2-3 | 19 |
| Arndtson | 1-4 | 3-4 | 6 |
| Crouse | 5-6 | 7-10 | 17 |
| Totals | 24-48 | 23-32 | 79 |