ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Other than St. Cloud State, no other North Central Conference women's basketball can match UND's athleticism.
Despite its athleticism, St. Cloud still can't match UND on the scoreboard.
No. 1-ranked UND never could fully enjoy its second-half lead, but still had enough to pull away down the stretch for a 106-83 win over the Huskies on Saturday night at Halenbeck Hall.
"We have the athletic ability to keep up with them, but mentally we made too many mistakes," St. Cloud coach Lori Ulferts said."We're right there, but we haven't yet gone over the top."
UND's Jaime Pudenz and Jenny Crouse made sure St. Cloud didn't reach the mountain top. Pudenz, in her best outing of the season, scored 30 points while Crouse added 27 in another strong inside game.
That one-two punch kept the Huskies from seriously cutting into UND's second-half lead, which ranged from 10 to 20 points until the Sioux pulled away at the end with their free-throw shooting.
"All of their players can score,"Pudenz said."And they can score points in a hurry. That showed because we lost our intensity for a while in the second half and they stormed right back into the game."
Behind 6-foot sophomore Christine Williamson (32 points), the Huskies twice cut UND's lead to 10 points in the second half. But a Pudenz' 3-pointer with 5:12 left gave the Sioux an 87-73 lead.
"Jaime's basket was my play of the game,"UND coach Gene Roebuck said."When they cut the lead to 10, we tightened up and got back to playing good basketball. We bent, but didn't break. And that's a sign of a good team."
Pudenz carried the Sioux in the first half. The Huskies threw a zone defense at the Sioux, hoping to shut down Crouse. Pudenz' shooting, however, carried UND to a 56-41 halftime lead.
"You have to stop Crouse,"Ulferts said."Yes, Crouse can score, but you have to stop Jaime. She's the key to that team."
The Sioux point guard, however, had a lot of support throughout the game. Katie Richards (16), Jenny Hoffner (11) and Kami Winger (10, 13 rebounds) all had their moments in leading UND to its 13th NCC win of the season.
UND capitalized offensively in all areas. The Sioux had 42 points in the paint, 24 off of St. Cloud turnovers and 19 from offensive rebounds.
And UND needed to be sharp in all areas because of what St. Cloud did Friday night. The Huskies broke a 19-losing streak against North Dakota State with an 86-72 win over the Bison.
The Huskies were hoping for the rare weekend double over the powerful North Dakota schools with a win over the Sioux.
"You can get one but to get two on the same weekend is tough,"Ulferts said."UND still has that tradition."
UND entered the weekend with a two-game lead over North Dakota State and Northern Colorado. The Bison split their games while Northern Colorado dropped two. The Sioux can clinch a tie for second straight NCC title with a win over South Dakota State on Friday night.
"A few things could have better, but we got two (wins),"Crouse said."It was a good weekend."
It was even a good weekend for an ex-Sioux player, too. During a first-half time-out, former WDAZ sportscaster Rob Vogel proposed to former UND player Allison Derck. Derck said yes.
| UND (106) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Pudenz | 9-13 | 6-6 | 30 |
| Jones | 2-6 | 4-6 | 9 |
| Hoffner | 3-11 | 4-7 | 11 |
| Winger | 4-8 | 2-2 | 10 |
| Super | 1-4 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Carroll | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Richards | 7-14 | 2-4 | 16 |
| Crouse | 8-15 | 11-14 | 27 |
| Totals | 34-72 | 29-39 | 106 |
| St. Cloud (83) | |||
| Persby | 3-10 | 2-5 | 9 |
| Brand | 1-2 | 1-1 | 3 |
| Higgins | 1-3 | 2-2 | 4 |
| Watkins | 3-10 | 0-0 | 7 |
| Forsline | 2-5 | 0-1 | 4 |
| Williamson | 10-25 | 10-12 | 35 |
| Moberg | 3-6 | 2-4 | 8 |
| Blade | 1-4 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Thomsen | 3-5 | 3-4 | 9 |
| Shea | 1-5 | 3-4 | 5 |
| Totals | 28-75 | 23-33 | 83 |