After last week's stinging loss at rival North Dakota State, it was time for UND to go back to the basics.
And the Sioux basics, most nights, are far too complicated for their opponents.
UND has won the last two NCAA Division II national championships with a pulverizing running game, one that's complemented by the dominating inside play of Jenny Crouse and timely 3-pointers.
That's basic Sioux basketball. And the Sioux basics were in full force Friday night at the Hyslop Sports Center where No. 1-ranked UND hammered Morningside 124-86 in a North Central Conference women's basketball game.
"We came out and attacked from the start," UND coach Gene Roebuck said.
And the Sioux (10-1 NCC, 19-1 overall) never halted their attack as their point total was the second-highest in school history.
"We got in our transition game and everyone was looking to run,"Sioux point guard Jaime Pudenz said."All week in practice we didn't work on any plays We just focused on passing, screening, running and rebounding."
The latter was UND's downfall at NDSU last week. The Sioux were outrebounded by five and gave up a whopping 29 offensive rebounds to the Bison.
The Sioux outrebounded Morningside 49-32 as Crouse (25 points, 8 rebounds) and Kami Winger (21, 9) had clear sailing inside against the Mustangs, who dressed only nine players. Among the nine, there were no true post players.
But that didn't matter. UND's dominating inside play came after the Sioux running game already had hit high gear.
The hustling play of Katie Richards in the opening minutes led the Sioux to their usual up-tempo style of play. Richards had 15 points at halftime and finished with 20.
Another concern for the Sioux after their loss to the Bison was to get all players involved. Five minutes into the game, all five Sioux starters had scored. And the reserves did their part, too.
Most impressive in the early going was Missy Leno. The freshman from Bismarck finished with nine points, eight rebounds and five assists in a season-high 22 minutes.
"We were kind of down after (the Bison game),"Leno said."We wanted to show people we could pick it up."
That was evident at halftime as the Sioux led by 29. UND's sharp offensive play continued in the second half. Richards' 3-pointer with 8:41 left pushed UND over the 100-point mark.
UND's game wasn't complicated. It was just rebound and run. And when the break wasn't there, pound the ball inside.
"We wanted to keep it simple on offense,"Roebuck said."And we just wanted to make sure we worked hard on defense."
Morningside, led by Kara Christoffer's 19 points, ran the floor well in the second half despite having only nine players. The Mustangs scored 52 points.
And the Mustangs' 86 points didn't go unnoticed by the Sioux.
"Maybe we need to work more on our defensive game,"Pudenz said.
There are a few minor errors in this boxscore which I will fix shortly.
| UND (124) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| J. Pudenz | 5-6 | 3-3 | 15 |
| Jones | 3-6 | 2-2 | 8 |
| Leno | 2-7 | 4-6 | 9 |
| Hoffner | 2-5 | 1-2 | 7 |
| Winger | 10-13 | 1-1 | 21 |
| Super | 2-5 | 0-1 | 8 |
| Carroll | 2-3 | 4-12 | 8 |
| Richards | 8-11 | 2-3 | 20 |
| Crouse | 11-16 | 3-4 | 25 |
| Totals | 47-75 | 22-36 | 124 |
| Morningside (86) | |||
| Durant | 2-6 | 5-6 | 9 |
| Walker | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Martin | 6-12 | 2-3 | 14 |
| Christoffer | 7-16 | 4-4 | 19 |
| Berkenpas | 2-5 | 4-4 | 10 |
| Goodlaxson | 3-8 | 2-2 | 11 |
| Johnson | 3-12 | 1-2 | 9 |
| Bolton | 5-9 | 2-4 | 12 |
| Wainer | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 |
| Totals | 29-70 | 20-26 | 86 |
Halftime: UND 63, Morninside 34.
Total Fouls: UND 34, Mor 29.
Fouled Out: Durant, Berkenpas, Johnson.
Technical Foul: Morningside coach.
3-pt. FG: UND 8-17 (Pudenz 2-2, Richards 2-4, Hoffner 2-5, Leno 1-3, Super 1-3), Mor 8-16 (Goodlaxson 3-5, Berkenpas 2-2, Johnson 2-8, Christoffer 1-1).
Rebounds: UND 49 (Winger 9), Mor 32 (Bolton 10).
Assists: UND 34 (Super 6, Richards 6), Mor 19 (Goodlaxson 5).