He chose reserve Casey Carroll.
And Carroll delivered, leading the Sioux to an 85-60 North Central Conference basketball win over Northern Colorado on Saturday night, a win that virtually guarantees UND home-court advantage in the North Central Region postseason tournament.
Carroll was a surprise starter in place of Jenny Hoffner. And Carroll's play in UND's transition game was crucial as the Sioux (17-1 NCC, 26-1 overall) ran away to an easy win in a game that mattered to Northern Colorado. The loss knocked the Bears out of the playoffs.
Carroll scored 15 points -- 10 in the first half. Six of the 10 came on an 8-0 UND run, which gave the Sioux a 17-6 lead. And the Sioux turned the game into a rout with a 17-6 second-half run, which included a rare Carroll 3-pointer.
"I started Casey because she's an up-tempo style of player,"Roebuck said."We needed to make sure we had the first burst. Casey played her heart out (Friday night) at Nebraska-Omaha and I felt she deserved to start.
"And we needed a quick start because Northern Colorado is the best team we've seen all year in transition."
There was no downside to Roebuck's lineup change. Hoffner came off the bench to lead the Sioux with 17 points, making 4 of 5 3-pointers."Jenny had a solid game,"Roebuck said."She hit some key shots and looked comfortable out there."
Carroll learned of her starting assignment minutes before tip-off."I had some open looks right away,"Carroll said."When I hit them, that got my confidence up."
But Carroll was more impressed with the Sioux defense, which was solid all game and held the Bears to 25 percent field-goal shooting.
"We played pretty good defense,"Carroll said."And it's always hard to play here, especially on the second night of this road trip."
The play of Carroll and Hoffner was critical because all three of UND's top scorers -- Crouse, Richards and Pudenz -- were in foul trouble in the closely officiated game.
"But we didn't stop playing our style of ball,"Hoffner said.
And that's run, run, run.
In the second half, UND poured it on as the Bears were a step slow on both ends of the floor."It looked like they were a little tired,"Carroll said."When we get our running game going, it's tough for teams to keep up."
At Nebraska-Omaha on Friday night, only Crouse was in double figures. Five Sioux players were in double figures against the Bears. Kami Winger (15 points), Katie Richards (10) and Missy Leno (10) joined Hoffner and Carroll in double figures.
And Leno hit some key 3-pointers in the first half as the Sioux established control.
Northern Colorado (11-7, 17-11) needed to beat UND or North Dakota State over the weekend to gain one of the six regional playoff spots.
Now, it appears the South Dakota State and Augustana are good playoff bets to join the Sioux and Bison from the NCC. The regional seedings and sites will be announced today.
Roebuck said the Sioux appear to be ready to defend their region and NCAA Division II title.
"I want to make sure we have all of our players on the floor,"Roebuck said."We've been in foul trouble lately. And we want our players to be more intense defensively. Offensively, it we play like we did tonight, I'll be satisfied."
| UND (85) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| J. Pudenz | 2-12 | 0-0 | 5 |
| Jones | 2-5 | 2-4 | 6 |
| Leno | 4-8 | 0-1 | 10 |
| Hoffner | 5-6 | 3-4 | 17 |
| Winger | 4-8 | 7-8 | 15 |
| Super | 0-5 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Carroll | 6-10 | 2-2 | 15 |
| Richards | 2-5 | 5-8 | 10 |
| Crouse | 2-5 | 3-4 | 7 |
| Hoffman | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 27-65 | 22-31 | 85 |
| UNC (60) | |||
| Logan | 1-4 | 2-2 | 4 |
| Clark | 4-16 | 5-6 | 13 |
| Bowles | 7-14 | 6-8 | 20 |
| Ketterer | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Olsen | 1-14 | 9-11 | 11 |
| Dittburner | 0-5 | 1-2 | 1 |
| Domenico | 1-5 | 2-2 | 4 |
| Kutter | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Bentson | 2-4 | 0-0 | 4 |
| Tamble | 0-1 | 1-2 | 1 |
| Totals | 17-67 | 26-33 | 60 |
Halftime: UND 48, UNC 36.
Total Fouls: UND 23, UNO 20.
Fouled Out: none.
3-Point FG: UND 9-22 (Hoffner 4-5, Leno 2-6, Carroll 1-2, Richards 1-2, Pudenz 1-4, Super 0-3), UNC 0-14 (Logan 0-1, Clark 0-2, Ketterer 0-3, Olsen 0-3, Dittburner 0-2, Domenico 0-2, Bentson 0-1).
Rebounds: UND 52 (Crouse 11), UNC 44 (Clark 9, Bowles 9).
Assists: UND 19 (Pudenz 8), UNC 13 (Olsen 6).
Att: 711.