BROOKINGS, S.D. -- The UND women's basketball team was looking to make a point here Friday.
UND has been unhappy with its transition game in the last few weeks and for a team that relies on the fast break, fixing that problem is imperative. After putting 108 points on the board against South Dakota State, the message was clear:
The run is back in the Sioux's run-and-gun offense.
The Sioux beat the Jacks 108-77 for their 45th straight victory dating back to November 1997.
"We felt really good, this is a big boost," forward Katie Richards said. "Our style is 40 minutes of transition, and we've been missing that the last few weeks. Tonight we wanted to send the message that the Sioux are back."
Richards led all scorers with 26 points -- seven of which came in a hurry to start the Sioux breakout. Richards hit two free throws at 5 minutes, 22 seconds of the first half, then scored the next five points.
She bumped the Sioux lead from 32-26 to 39-30 but more importantly got the green and white running. After Richards' flurry, UND went on a 12-0 run and closed the half with a 51-32 lead.
"Katie Richards was a catalyst, she took the game over," UND coach Gene Roebuck said. "She's the main reason we pulled away."
SDSU held an 18-17 lead when the Jacks' Sherri Brende hit a 3-pointer at the 10-minute mark. That was the last time SDSU led. It was also the last time Brende, the Jacks' second-leading scorer, found the basket until midway through the second half. With SDSU's leading scorer, Lora Kluis, out of the game, the Sioux focused on Brende.
"I was pleasantly surprised," Roebuck said. "The surprise was that South Dakota State is a very good basketball team but the way we came out in transition we controlled the game.
"Brende is a very good player (she had 11 points Friday)," Roebuck said. "The times we weren't on her she made baskets. We played better defense on her in the second half, and she didn't score too many."
Meanwhile, SDSU couldn't find a way to stop the UND scoring attack. The Sioux proved Friday that good defense doesn't stop good shooting. Though playing in Frost Arena, UND's shooting percentage was a balmy 61 percent. Richards hit 9 of 10 field goals (4-5 on 3-point field goals) for 26 points, Jenny Crouse went 8-for-9 (17 points), Kami Winger 8-for-9 (16) and Tonia Jones 7-for-8 (15).
"We just kept running and found our transition game," Winger said.
The 108 points are the most the Sioux have scored against SDSU. Doing that on the road against the NCC's No. 2 (along with NDSU) set the example the Sioux wanted.
"Now we've turned things around to where we want them, and we have to keep it going," Richards said.
UND remained perfect in the NCC (8-0) and overall (17-0).
| UND (108) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Pudenz | 4-11 | 1-1 | 11 |
| Jones | 7-8 | 1-3 | 15 |
| Hoffner | 5-11 | 0-0 | 13 |
| Winger | 8-9 | 0-0 | 16 |
| Super | 1-3 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Carroll | 0-6 | 0-2 | 0 |
| Richards | 9-10 | 4-5 | 26 |
| Crouse | 8-9 | 1-2 | 17 |
| Leno | 2-3 | 1-2 | 7 |
| Hoffman | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 44-72 | 8-15 | 108 |
| South Dakota St. (77) | |||
| Kluis | 2-14 | 0-0 | 4 |
| Olson | 2-7 | 0-0 | 4 |
| Rippke | 6-11 | 4-4 | 16 |
| Brende | 4-7 | 0-0 | 11 |
| Sylvester | 4-8 | 1-2 | 9 |
| Griener | 5-6 | 0-2 | 12 |
| Johnson | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 |
| DeRuyck | 2-3 | 2-2 | 6 |
| Wadsworth | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Loken | 3-6 | 3-5 | 9 |
| Engel | 1-1 | 0-2 | 2 |
| Wesibrod | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Briggs | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Nelson | 1-3 | 0-1 | 2 |
| Totals | 31-70 | 10-19 | 77 |