Impressively, UND's 1997 Division II national women's basketball championship banner was unveiled at Hyslop Sports Center on Saturday night.
And, without skipping a beat from last year, the No. 1-ranked Sioux unveiled another powerhouse team, one that defensively smothered No. 16 Minnesota-Duluth 72-55 before 2,107 fans.
"Good teams magnify your mistakes and that, in essence, is what they did to us," Minnesota-Duluth coach Karen Stromme said. "They made us take bad shots."
UND played its first game while Duluth was playing its fourth. Offensively, it showed as the Sioux struggled from the field in the first half, making only 33 percent of their field-goal attempts.
Defensively, however, the Sioux were solid for 40 minutes.
"We've got five newcomers and its our first game of the year," UND coach Gene Roebuck said. "We're playing a nationally ranked team, and it's their fourth game.
"There were some highs and lows. We were a little rusty in the first half. But when we needed big baskets down the stretch, we got them."
Jenny Crouse led the Sioux with 19 points and the 6-foot-3 junior had another monster game inside with 10 rebounds and 7 blocked shots. Guards Jaime Pudenz and Tiffany Pudenz both scored 15 points while Kami Winger added 10.
But perhaps the biggest Sioux basket came from Katie Richards. Her 3-pointer to start the second half gave the Sioux a 36-30 lead. From there, the Bulldogs never got closer than five points.
Duluth tried to keep UND in a half-court game to neutralize the superior Sioux quickness. It's not the way UND wants to play, the but Sioux adjusted.
"Sometimes, teams try to stop us with the half-court game," Jaime Pudenz said. "It's not frustrating, but at times it's hard. It was a good learning experience."
But when the Sioux did run, Duluth couldn't stop them. Jaime Pudenz' 3-pointer, set up by Tiffany Pudenz on the fastbreak, gave UND a 45-33 lead with 13:42 remaining.
Duluth, behind the strong inside play of Stacy Nelson, stayed with UND for much of the first half. However, the emotion of seeing the national championship banner unveiled amid spotlights and blaring music could have had something to do with UND's slow start.
"Everyone was kind of nervous," Jaime Pudenz said. "You kind of doubt things at the start. But as the game wore on, everyone got into the flow."
Especially on defense. "If we play good defense, it leads to our offense," Jaime Pudenz said.
Said Roebuck: "We didn't give them many easy baskets. Tiffany and Jaime set the (defensive) pace on the perimeter."
And they also set the pace for possibly another banner year.