By Wayne Nelson
Herald Staff Writer
PINE BLUFF, Ark. -- At halftime, Kennesaw (Ga.) State coach Colby Tilley looked at the statistics sheet and shook his head.
His Owls had shot 60 percent from the field, yet trailed top-ranked UND by 15 points.
"We couldn't believe that stat," Tilley said. "We thought we were shooting about 30 percent. We couldn't play any better than we did in the first half."
Kennesaw's best simply wasn't good enough for UND.
The Sioux, backed by a devastating, two-minute 14-0 first-half run, beat Kennesaw 96-69 on Wednesday in the first round of the Elite Eight national women's basketball tournament before 1,132 Pine Bluff Convention Center fans.
The Sioux, seeking their third straight NCAA Division II title, will play Emporia (Kan.) State in tonight's semifinals. The game, expected to be a full-throttle event, will be a rematch of last year's championship game.
UND advanced because it didn't get caught in a half-court game, which slower, taller Kennesaw wanted. "I guess they teased us for the first 10 minutes," Tilley said. "We had a cold spell, and they probably played like they normally do. It was tough to come back from a run like that."
Jaime Pudenz, who led the Sioux with 22 points, started the run with back-to-back 3-pointers, the second coming on a Kennesaw turnover. Tonia Jones scored the next four points, while baskets from Kami Winger and Casey Carroll closed the fast-paced run.
Pudenz's shooting broke the game open. She was 7 of 12 from the field, including 5-of-8 shooting on 3-pointers. The 5-foot-5 junior, who sat the final few minutes with a sprained ankle, scored 18 of her points in the first half.
"My shots were going in," Pudenz said. "Katie (Richards) and Kami were setting good screens, and I was looking to score."
The tempo was in Kennesaw's favor in the first half. The Owls, behind the fluid inside play of Justyna Stanioch (21 points) and Dion Thornton (17), led 24-23 with 10:16 left before the Sioux unleashed their transition game.
"We played hard," UND coach Gene Roebuck said. "We talked about going to the boards hard and attacking. Defensively, we played well. Their post players (Stanioch, Thornton) are very good. They're more talented than I thought they were. They were hard to defend at times, but our guards did a good job of helping out down low."
Early, it looked as if Kennesaw's inside game, plus the slower tempo, would give UND trouble. "My main objective was to keep (Thornton) off the boards," said UND's Jenny Crouse, whose 11 rebounds led the Sioux to a 48-32 rebounding advantage. "And we wanted to make it tough for her to go to her right."
After the Sioux run, Kennesaw's inside game was not a factor.
The Sioux, in a rare move, played a zone defense for the last few minutes of the first half and for a stretch in the second. "If they were going to beat us, they had to do it from the outside," Roebuck said. "We felt their strength was inside."
Kennesaw entered shooting 30 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. And the Owls, reluctant to shoot the trey against UND's zone, made only 1 of 7 3-pointers, their lone trey coming in garbage time with 2:12 to play.
"The main problem was that they were better outside shooters," Stanioch said.
Added Tilley: "They have so many players who can score from inside and outside. We just didn't do a good enough job shutting down their 3-point shooters. If we had, it might have been a closer game."
Seven of UND's 10 3-pointers came in the first half. The Sioux turned it into a rout after long-range 3-pointers by Richards and Pudenz, sandwiched around a Carroll basket, gave them a 69-48 lead with 13:48 to play.
Besides Pudenz, Richards (16), Winger (14), Crouse (13) and Krissi Super (10) all were in double figures for the Sioux, who shot 47 percent.
UND's solid shooting came from its defense, which, in turn, ignited its transition game. "If you play good defense and pressure them, you'll get those spurts," Roebuck said.
And the Sioux needed only one to gain control.
| UND (96) | |||||||
| Name | Min | FG | FT | Reb O-T | PF | A | Points |
| Pudenz | 30 | 7-12 | 3-4 | 1-5 | 3 | 4 | 22 |
| Jones | 33 | 3-5 | 2-3 | 2-6 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Hoffner | 26 | 1-4 | 3-4 | 3-8 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Richards | 26 | 6-17 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 4 | 1 | 16 |
| Crouse | 34 | 3-8 | 7-8 | 5-11 | 4 | 3 | 13 |
| Winger | 22 | 6-9 | 2-2 | 5-10 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
| Carroll | 18 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Leno | 8 | 1-3 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Super | 10 | 2-4 | 5-6 | 0-3 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Hoffman | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team reb. | 0-0 | ||||||
| Totals | 200 | 31-66 | 24-31 | 18-48 | 18 | 16 | 96 |
Percentages: FG .479, FT .774
3-Point Goals 10-24, .417 (Pudenz 5-8, Richards 3-8, Leno 1-3, Super 1-3, Hoffner 0-2)
Turnovers: 23 (Jones 4, Richards 3, Pudenz 3, Winger 3)
Blocks: 4 (Crouse 3, Super 1)
Steals: 10 (Richards 3, Crouse 3).
| Kennesaw St. (69) | |||||||
| Name | Min | FG | FT | Reb O-T | PF | A | Points |
| Anglin | 29 | 2-7 | 2-2 | 0-4 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Thornton | 26 | 7-13 | 3-5 | 1-4 | 5 | 1 | 17 |
| Siwczak | 38 | 3-12 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| Stanioch | 33 | 9-17 | 3-7 | 3-7 | 4 | 4 | 21 |
| Petronyte | 40 | 1-8 | 2-5 | 1-3 | 4 | 7 | 4 |
| Ndoye | 8 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Zmada | 10 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 2-2 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Kemp | 13 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Coleman | 3 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Team reb. | 3-5 | ||||||
| Totals | 200 | 28-68 | 12-23 | 13-32 | 27 | 16 | 69 |
Percentages: FG .412, FT .522
3-Point Goals 1-7, .145 (Anglin 1-2, Petronyte 0-5)
Turnovers: 21 (Petronyte 9, Stanioch 4)
Blocks: 1 (Stanioch)
Steals: 9 (Petronyte 3, Stanioch 2, Thornton 2).
Halftime: UND 56 Kennesaw 41
Attendance -- 1,132