1999 Elite Eight Notebook

Bentley coach praises both teams

Coach Barbara Stevens has taken nine Bentley (Mass.) College teams to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight women's basketball tournament since 1989. She has seen UND play in the Elite Eight the past three seasons.

She's familiar with UND's success and style.

After Emporia (Kan.) State dismantled Bentley 99-72 here Wednesday in the opening round of the tournament, Stevens was asked how UND stacks up against Emporia in tonight's semifinal game, which is a rematch of last year's NCAA Division II title game.

"I watched last year's (title) game and the (ESPN2) commentator said the fast pace favored Emporia," Stevens said. "I had to chuckle at that. No team can run like North Dakota, as far as I'm concerned."

Stevens said the key for Emporia is to take away UND's 3-point game. "I think Emporia guards people very, very well."

Emporia continually took Bentley out of its offense with defensive pressure on the perimeter. Stevens said the Sioux should be able to handle that pressure.

Emporia, like UND, has injury concerns. Leading scorer Jurgita Kausaite was limping noticeably after Thursday's victory. She has been bothered by a knee injury.

Another honor for Crouse

The honors keep piling up for UND's Jenny Crouse. On Tuesday, she was named the Rawlings Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II Player of the Year, the second straight season she has won the award.

On Wednesday, she was named to the Division II All-America team, sponsored by Kodak and the WBCA.

Crouse and Ashley Totedo of Shippensburg, Pa., are the only repeat selections. Other members of the team are Angie Hupfer, St. Joseph's (Ind.); Jurgita Kausaite, Emporia (Kan.) State; Heather Kearney, Slippery Rock, Pa.; Becky Reichard, Missouri Western; Tanisha Rickman, West Florida; Julie Stockwell, Stonehill, Mass.; Darcy Stracke, Neb.-Kearney and Jann Thorpe, Sonoma, Calif.

Crouse has been selected to play in the All-Star Challenge next week in San Jose, Calif. The game is part of the festivities that surround the player of the year awards ceremony for collegiate women's basketball.

Seventeen Division I all-stars will be joined by Crouse, the Division II national player of the year, the NCAA Division III player of the year and the NAIA player of the year. There will be 10 players on each team.

Like father, like son?

In the South Central Region tournament, Emporia beat West Texas A&M 99-61. Emporia is coached by Brandon Schneider, the son of veteran West Texas A&M coach Bob Schneider.

There were some suggestions that Brandon ran the score up on his dad, which brought his team to the 1997 Elite Eight played in Grand Forks. That's not true, Brandon said.

In fact, Brandon has sought advice from his dad.

"He's been coaching for 43 years and has almost 900 wins," Brandon said. "He's a pretty good source of information."

More Sioux records

As UND's success continues, school records continue to fall.

With 11 rebounds in UND's 96-69 win over Kennesaw, Crouse broke her single-season rebound record. The Sioux senior has 298 rebounds, six more than last year.

Jaime Pudenz also broke Christy Waldal's single-season UND assist record. With four assists, Pudenz has 199 assists.

Also, Jenny Hoffner grabbed a career-high eight rebounds while Krissi Super, in an impressive showing off the bench, tied her career high with 10 points.Briefly