Herald Staff Writer
Key play: Tiffany Pudenz's four-point play for 51-40 lead.
Key player: Jenny Crouse, 26 points, 7 rebounds, 6 blocked shots.
Key stat: UND shot 54 percent in the second half.
All season, UND women's basketball coach Gene Roebuck has wondered how his team would respond to pressure.
The Sioux needed only 10 minutes to answer that question. They responded quite well, thank you.
UND's near-flawless play in the first 10 minutes of the second half carried the Sioux to a 96-68 win over Northern Colorado on Saturday night in the semifinals of the North Central Region women's basketball tournament at Hyslop Sports Center.
Top-seeded UND, the defending Division II national champion, will play second-seeded Nebraska-Kearney at 4 p.m. today for the regional title and a berth in the Elite Eight in Pine Bluff, Ark.
The Sioux busted open a close game at halftime by doing what they do best -- run the floor and have post players Jenny Crouse and Kami Winger dominate play inside.
UND led 39-33 at the half, ending an up-and-down 20 minutes for the Sioux. They let Northern Colorado and its dangerous perimeter shooters hang around longer than expected.
"It's been a bittersweet season," Roebuck said of UND's usual whopping halftime leads throughout the season. "It's great to come down at halftime with a big lead. But that might not be a great learning experience for the postseason.
"But we came out and showed we can play in a tight game and in tough situations. I think we played a full 20 minutes in the second half. That answers a lot for these players."
UNC narrowed the lead to three points early in the second half. But the Sioux soon took control. In the first 10 minutes, UND scored 29 points to widen its lead to 68-52.
Crouse, who had 20 points at halftime, scored three of the first four UND baskets of the half, the other coming on a perfectly executed fast-break between sisters Jaime Pudenz and Tiffany Pudenz.
Tiffany Pudenz followed with a four-point play at the 16:08 mark, giving the Sioux a 51-40 lead. Finally, UND's fluid offense had returned.
Crouse, who carried UND in the first half, ended with 26 points while Winger scored 18 -- all coming in the final 13 minutes. The 6-foot-3 Crouse and 6-2 Winger were too much for the smaller Bears to handle. Northern Colorado's biggest player was 6-1 Marianne Clark.
"They really have good post players," Clark said. "It was tough for us because of their size. Crouse was able to get to the offensive boards. Just getting into position to box out Crouse was difficult."
Northern Colorado coach Greg Bruce knew the first few minutes of the second half would be critical. "UND stepped it up," Bruce said. "I'm sure Gene raised his voice in the locker room. They responded."
The Sioux responded to a challenge of ending the tentativeness they showed at times in the first half. UND, in typical fashion, blew out to a 16-4 lead in the first five minutes, but couldn't shake the Bears.
Crouse, who scored 20 of her points in the first half, scored 11 of UND's final 13 points of the half to stop Northern Colorado's challenge. Twice the Bears came within two points.
"Jenny took the game over inside," Roebuck said. "She's not going to tell you she stepped it up. But I'm going to tell you she stepped it up. Then, Kami and Tiff stepped it up in the second half."
Northern Colorado's perimeter defense took away UND's outside shooting in the first half. "In the first half, I didn't have any open shots," said Tiffany Pudenz, who scored 11 of her 12 points in the second half.
Once the Bears tried to take away Crouse, Pudenz, Katie Richards (11 points) and Mandy Arndtson (11) became more involved in UND's offense, which made 54 percent of its second-half shots.
But it wasn't only UND's offense that impressed UNC, led by Missy McVoy's 15 points. "A lot of people know they can score, but their defense is pretty salty," Bruce said. "And the Pudenz sisters can put a lot of pressure on our perimeter players. They had our offense pushed out pretty far in the first half."
UND's depth -- a major factor in all three Sioux wins over the Bears this season -- was big again in wearing down the opponent.
"Their second five could be a heck of a team in the NCC," Bruce said.
| Northern Colorado (68) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| St. Martin | 4-11 | 2-2 | 10 |
| Ketterer | 2-8 | 4-4 | 9 |
| Logan | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Domenco | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 |
| Kohler | 3-7 | 2-2 | 9 |
| McVoy | 5-8 | 4-4 | 15 |
| Altman | 4-9 | 2-2 | 11 |
| Clark | 4-16 | 3-4 | 11 |
| Totals | 23-62 | 18-20 | 68 |
| UND (96) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| J. Pudenz | 2-9 | 2-4 | 8 |
| Jones | 0-3 | 1-2 | 1 |
| T. Pudenz | 4-10 | 2-3 | 12 |
| Hoffner | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Winger | 8-11 | 2-5 | 18 |
| Super | 0-1 | 2-2 | 2 |
| Kabanuk | 2-4 | 0-0 | 5 |
| Carroll | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Richards | 4-7 | 2-2 | 11 |
| Arndtson | 3-5 | 4-7 | 11 |
| Crouse | 10-14 | 6-8 | 26 |
| Totals | 34-66 | 21-33 | 96 |