Key play: UND's 15-0 run for 36-21 lead.
Key player: Jaime Pudenz, 16 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds.
Key stat: UND shoots 58 percent in second half.
WOMEN
By Wayne Nelson
As expected, UND defeated Minnesota State-Mankato on Saturday night at Hyslop Sports Center.
But the usual Sioux spunk, which has produced overwhelming dominance as well as entertainment during the team's 44-game winning streak, was missing in the 78-58 victory.
"It seems like we're sluggish mentally," UND coach Gene Roebuck said.
Still, UND's 20-point win kept the No. 1-ranked Sioux in first place in the North Central Conference women's basketball race. But smiles were few in the UND locker room afterward.
UND struggled last weekend at South Dakota and Morningside and couldn't put St. Cloud State away until the final minutes Friday night. The Sioux are winning but not the way they usually do.
Their running game, the staple of UND's back-to-back NCAA Division II national championships, hasn't hit full throttle lately.
"We won by 20, but it wasn't Sioux basketball," said UND guard Jenny Hoffner, whose 3-point shooting keyed a 15-0 first-half Sioux run. "It felt weird."
That 15-0 spurt, however, didn't finish off the Mavericks, led by the solid inside play of Brenda Stachowski (17 points). Mankato pulled to within eight (39-31) at halftime and trailed by only nine (60-51) with 6:14 remaining.
"Down the stretch, we weren't playing together," said UND's Jaime Pudenz. "We were doing things on our own. We weren't on the same page."
But the Sioux had just enough of everything to never let Mankato mount a serious challenge. Pudenz and Jenny Crouse, who broke UND's career scoring record against St. Cloud on Friday night, scored 16 points each.
Forward Katie Richards added 13 points, while Kami Winger and Hoffner both finished with 12. UND made 14 of 24 (58 percent) second-half shots.
UND's major advantage came at the free-throw line. The Sioux made 19 of 26 from the line compared with Mankato's 4-of-7 showing. Inside players Crouse and Winger combined for half of the attempts.
UND's sluggishness, however, is a concern, considering the Sioux play at No. 18 South Dakota State on Friday night and at Augustana -- the NCC surprise -- on Saturday night. Following that road trip is a rematch at No. 3 North Dakota State.
"Emotion plays a huge role, and we need to play with emotion," Roebuck said. "We played well enough to win. But when we're going on all cylinders, we're fun to watch. When we don't play like that, we become too methodical."
A methodical UND still is better than most NCC teams. But that may not be the case against the top teams.
"Sometimes, you need to get away and cut back," Roebuck said of UND's usually demanding practices. "Maybe we need to cut back and get our mental freshness back."
If that happens, the Sioux may have fun again.
"It was more hard work out there than fun," Pudenz said.
Herald Staff Writer
UND (78)
Name
FG
FT
Points
Pudenz 4-10 6-6 16
Jones 1-2 1-2 3
Hoffner 4-7 0-0 12
Winger 4-10 4-6 12
Super 0-0 0-0 0
Carroll 2-6 2-3 6
Richards 5-11 2-2 13
Crouse 6-9 4-7 16
Totals 26-55 19-26 78
MSU-Mankato (58)
Kuhl 0-2 0-0 0
Hintgen 4-9 0-0 8
Setter 0-0 0-0 0
E. Anderson 0-0 0-0 0
Swanson 2-6 1-1 5
Sloane 1-5 0-0 3
Bartlett 3-4 0-0 8
Fitzsimmons 3-3 0-0 7
Stachowski 8-23 1-4 17
R. Anderson 2-5 2-2 6
Groom 2-4 0-0 4
Peterson 0-1 0-0 0
Totals 25-62 4-7 58
Halftime: UND 39, MSUM 31.
Total Fouls: UND 11, MSUM 18.
Fouled Out: none.
3-pt FG: UND 7-13 (Hoffner 4-7, Pudenz 2-3, Richards 1-3, MSUM 4-14 (Bartlett 2-3, Sloane 1-4, Fitzsimmons 1-1, Kuhl 0-2, Hintgen 0-1, Stachowski 0-2, Groom 0-1).
Rebounds: UND 39 (Winger 10), MSUM 34 (Hintgen 7, Stachowski 7).
Assists: UND 20 (Pudenz 6), MSUM 16 (Hintgen 4).