Herald Staff Writer
UND honored seniors Jaime Pudenz, Katie Richards and Lynda Hass before Saturday night's game against Northern Colorado.
The Sioux seniors have played a major role in UND's three NCAA Division II national titles and two North Central Conference championships. They've also guided UND to 114 career wins since they joined the program four years ago.
Did anyone really think Northern Colorado stood a chance to ruin the seniors' final home appearance before 3,359 fans at Hyslop Sports Center?
Pudenz and Richards -- the architects of UND's run of three straight national championships -- didn't think so.
The two, as they have done so often during their careers, led UND to another win, this one a 92-57 smashing of Northern Colorado, a victory that ended the Sioux regular season at 24-4 and sealed the No. 2 seed in this week's North Central Region tournament.
"Obviously, I didn't want to leave this court on a losing note," said Pudenz, who scored 16 points. "We came out intense and probably played our best game of the season as a team."
Richards, the team's emotional leader, led the Sioux with 22 points and 12 rebounds, her sixth double-double of the season and 13th of her career. Two Richards' three-pointers sparked an 11-2 run that gave the Sioux a 31-17 lead.
"This was our last game here and we wanted to end it in style," Richards said. "When we were in the locker room before the game, we said we were going to win. And that was it."
In the last two weeks, UND has played its best basketball of the season. The Sioux beat Augustana, South Dakota State, Nebraska-Omaha and Northern Colorado by an average of 24.2 points. Three of the teams are in contention for the North Central Region tournament.
"For 40 minutes, this was as hard as we've played," UND coach Gene Roebuck said. "We had only 14 turnovers. For as hard as we played, that was an indication of how well we played."
UND placed five players in double figures. Besides Richards and Pudenz, others were Jenny Hoffner (14 points), Theresa LeCuyer (11) and Jenny Boll (10).
Hass, who transferred to UND last year, started the game despite a knee injury she suffered last week. She played only a few seconds but drew praise from Roebuck.
"Lynda gave us mental toughness for two years and a good work ethic," Roebuck said.
The Sioux coach also heaped praise on Richards and Pudenz, who are 114-10 in their careers. "They've also set an example for our younger players," Roebuck said.
While the Sioux now prepare for the regional tournament, Northern Colorado has to wait to see if it will be among the six regional teams selected today for postseason play. The Bears (12-6 NCC, 19-8 overall) were led by Melissa Borell's 18 points.
"We didn't play our best basketball," Northern Colorado coach Greg Bruce said. "We've had a good season. We don't want to leave this kind of a taste in our mouths."
| UND (92) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Pudenz | 5-12 | 4-4 | 16 |
| Jones | 1-2 | 1-4 | 3 |
| Haas | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Hoffner | 5-7 | 0-0 | 14 |
| Moen | 2-5 | 1-1 | 5 |
| Richards | 7-21 | 5-6 | 22 |
| Arndtson | 1-3 | 3-4 | 5 |
| LeCuyer | 4-8 | 3-7 | 11 |
| Boll | 5-8 | 0-0 | 10 |
| Palbicki | 1-4 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Pick | 1-2 | 2-2 | 4 |
| Totals | 32-72 | 19-28 | 92 |
| Northern Colorado (57) | |||
| Fadenrecht | 3-13 | 1-1 | 7 |
| Clark | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Dittburner | 3-11 | 1-2 | 8 |
| Ketterer | 1-7 | 1-2 | 4 |
| Logan | 1-7 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Bentson | 1-3 | 1-2 | 3 |
| Domenico | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Ruff | 1-2 | 3-3 | 5 |
| Borell | 7-16 | 4-6 | 18 |
| Sauter | 2-4 | 2-2 | 6 |
| Totals | 21-67 | 13-18 | 57 |
Halftime: North Dakota 42, Northern Colorado 25.
3-point goals: UNC 2-15 (Fadenrecht 0-2, Clark 0-1, Dittburner 1-6, Ketterer 1-3, Logan 0-2, Bentson 0-1). UND 9-25 (Richards 3-10, Pudenz 2-7, Pick 0-1, Hoffner 4-6, Arndtson 0-1).
Rebounds: UNC 40 (Borell 9), UND 54 (Richards 12).
Assists: UNC 11 (Ketterer 4), UND 25 (LeCuyer 5, Pudenz 5).
Total fouls: UNC 26, UND 21.
Attendence: 3,359.