Herald Staff Writer
MANKATO, Minn. -- UND learned two valuable lessons during its weekend North Central Conference women's basketball trip.
One, UND no longer is guaranteed many easy NCC wins.
Two, defense still is the bottom line in UND's game.
The Sioux, taking nothing for granted following their stunning loss at St. Cloud State a night earlier, routed Minnesota State-Mankato 90-58 on Saturday afternoon at Otto Arena.
That lifts the Sioux to 5-2 in the NCC and 14-3 overall.
UND's easy win resulted from its solid defense, which was the foundation for a powerful transition game that blew the Mavericks off the floor in the second half. The Sioux performance was nothing short of some of their dominating games of the past three national championship seasons.
"We came out and played with emotion," UND coach Gene Roebuck said. "And we played hard on the defensive end."
UND has struggled with consistency all season. After its loss at St. Cloud State on Friday night, the Sioux again were faced with the consistency question.
"We came back strong," said UND junior Theresa LeCuyer, who scored a game-high 22 points. "But we don't want to have to come back. We always want to be on top."
The top, however, requires consistency. The Sioux again hope they've turned the corner with that concern.
The Mavericks, backed by the strong play of reserve center Jenny Groom (19 points), led 23-20 with 6:44 left in the first half. However, the Mavericks struggled to get those 23 points. And the struggles became worse as the Sioux began to take over in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
"It's like a national tournament for every team that plays us, because they're playing a team that has won three national championships," Roebuck said. "They stayed with us for 10 minutes. Then we wore them down. Then doubt starts entering their minds."
UND's defense, as it has so often in the past, ignited its transition game, which produced a 12-2 run for a 59-39 lead with 11:22 left. LeCuyer scored nine of the points, while a Mandy Arndtson three-pointer rounded out the run.
"We have to set the tone with our defense," LeCuyer said. "That has to be our trademark."
UND placed four players in double figures. Katie Richards (19), Arndtson (11) and Becky Moen (11) complemented LeCuyer's 22.
Another good sign for the Sioux was three-point shooting. After making only 1 of 5 three-pointers in the first half, the Sioux connected on 7 of 14 in the final 20 minutes. And a couple of them came while UND was in transition.
When the Sioux run, their shooting percentage usually is high. In the second half, UND shot 63 percent. For the game, UND shot 53 percent, considerably better than its 38 percent showing at St. Cloud.
The loss at St. Cloud knocked UND out of first place. But the win at Mankato left the Sioux feeling good. The Sioux have to be in that frame of mind this weekend, as they play host to league-leading South Dakota State and Augustana. UND knows the importance of the games against two upper-division teams.
"We have to be physically and mentally prepared to practice on Monday," LeCuyer said.
| UND (90) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Pudenz | 3-8 | 0-0 | 8 |
| Haas | 1-1 | 3-4 | 5 |
| Hoffner | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Moen | 4-6 | 2-2 | 11 |
| Richards | 5-10 | 7-8 | 19 |
| Arndtson | 3-6 | 3-4 | 11 |
| LeCuyer | 10-13 | 1-2 | 22 |
| Boll | 3-5 | 0-0 | 6 |
| Palbicki | 2-8 | 2-2 | 6 |
| Pick | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 |
| Totals | 31-59 | 20-24 | 90 |
| Minnesota State (58) | |||
| Neuberger | 2-8 | 2-2 | 6 |
| R. Anderson | 2-7 | 0-0 | 4 |
| Stachowski | 2-6 | 2-2 | 6 |
| Curtis | 0-3 | 2-2 | 2 |
| Wolle | 1-9 | 1-2 | 4 |
| Applen | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Collins | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Charlton | 0-0 | 4-4 | 4 |
| E. Anderson | 1-3 | 2-2 | 5 |
| Swanson | 1-5 | 1-2 | 3 |
| Volk | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Salonek | 2-6 | 0-0 | 5 |
| Groom | 8-12 | 2-3 | 19 |
| Totals | 19-60 | 16-19 | 58 |
Halftime: North Dakota 35, Minnesota State, Mankato 28.
3-point goals: UND 8-19 (Arndtson 2-3, LeCuyer 1-2, Pudenz 2-5, Richards 2-4, Moen 1-3, Hoffner 0-2), MS 4-20 (Neuberger 0-1, Stachowski 0-1, Curtis 0-3, Wolle 1-7, E. Anderson 1-2, Salonek 1-3, Groom 1-3).
Rebounds: UND 40 (LeCuyer 8), MS 35 (Groom 7).
Assists: UND 16 (Arndtson 4, Richards 4), MS 12.
Total fouls: UND 19, MS 18.