Herald Staff Writer
The way the Sioux played in their 101-72 win over Nebraska-Omaha on Monday night at Sapp Fieldhouse, the streak shows no signs of ending. From start to finish, the Sioux were solid and polished and in no way resembled the team that suffered a disappointing one-point loss at Northern Colorado a night earlier.
"It's like the Wild Thing at Valley Fair," UND coach Gene Roebuck said of the amusement ride that resembles his team's NCC roller-coaster start. "One minute, you're on the ground, the next, you're 200 feet in the air. Tonight, we were 200 feet above the ground."
Not since the 1989-90 season had the Sioux dropped back-to-back NCC road games. And no Roebuck-coached team at UND has opened league play with two straight losses.
"Our problem so far this season is that we play well in the first half and then back off in the second half," UND's Jaime Pudenz said. "At Northern Colorado, we played not to lose."
The Sioux started strong and finished stronger against the Mavericks, who are out to show the league they're for real with the addition of transfer Darcy Stracke, the nation's leading scorer.
UND held Stracke to 13 points, nine below her average. At halftime, the All-America guard had scored only four points, making one of five shots. Stracke hit only 3 of 14 shots overall.
"To limit her to five shots in the first half was great," Roebuck said.
UND's defensive attack against Stracke, a senior transfer from Nebraska-Kearney, was led by Tonia Jones, who also held the high-scoring guard in check during the 1997 North Central Region title game in Grand Forks.
UND's defense was solid and its offense was as balanced as it's been all season.
Six Sioux scored in double figures, led by Katie Richards' 22 points. Theresa LeCuyer (18 points), Pudenz (17), Janel Palbicki (14), Jenny Boll (11) and Becky Moen (10) also were in double figures, as the Sioux scored in transition, drives to the basket and from the perimeter.
The play of the 6-foot-3 Palbicki, however, stood out. The freshman from Bloomington, Minn., also grabbed nine rebounds in her 17 minutes. With Palbicki, the Sioux now have an inside presence they haven't had since the graduation of 6-3 Jenny Crouse and 6-2 Kami Winger.
"I wanted to prove I can play on this team and in this conference," said Palbicki, who played 10 minutes more than her season average. "We talked about the will to win and how this game was the one to prove it."
UND was concerned about an emotional hangover after its loss in Greeley. But it was evident early that the loss had been forgotten.
"Our veterans played smart and set the tone," Roebuck said. "And our freshmen came in and did a good job. And I can't say enough about Janel's play. She got quality minutes and did something with them."
Now, the Sioux want to do something with its first NCC win.
"We knew we had to play well, because they (Mavericks) played the Bison tough," Pudenz said. "We found some strengths in this game. We knew when to take it to the basket or when to shoot."
UND will need to be on top of its game on Sunday, when it plays at rival North Dakota State.
| UND (101) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Pudenz | 5-11 | 3-4 | 17 |
| Jones | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2 |
| Haas | 2-5 | 2-2 | 7 |
| Hoffner | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Moen | 3-5 | 3-4 | 10 |
| Richards | 5-15 | 9-10 | 22 |
| Arndtson | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| LeCuyer | 6-10 | 6-8 | 18 |
| Boll | 4-7 | 3-4 | 11 |
| Palbicki | 6-7 | 2-4 | 14 |
| Totals | 32-66 | 28-38 | 101 |
| Nebraska-Omaha (72) | |||
| Birkel | 6-10 | 2-2 | 14 |
| Larson | 4-7 | 2-5 | 11 |
| Kerkhoff | 2-5 | 4-5 | 8 |
| Mitchell | 2-11 | 2-4 | 7 |
| Stracke | 3-4 | 5-8 | 13 |
| Sutherland | 1-3 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Soenen | 3-10 | 2-2 | 10 |
| Bomstad | 3-3 | 0-1 | 6 |
| Volnek | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 |
| Totals | 24-63 | 17-28 | 72 |
Halftime: UND 47, UNO 34.
Total Fouls: UND 22, UNO 26.
Fouled Out: Larson.
3-Point FG: UND 9-25 (Pudenz 4-7, Richards 3-9, Haas 1-4, Moen 1-1, Hoffner 0-3, Arndtson 0-1), UNO 7-22 (Stracke 2-7, Soenen 2-7, Larson 1-2, Mitchell 1-4, Sutherland 1-2).
Rebounds: UND 48 (Richards 11), UNO 36 (Birkel 7, Larson 7).
Assists: UND 21 (Pudenz 7), UNO 17 (Mitchell 5, Stracke 5).