(CST) Thursday, Oct.25 Winnipeg (Exh.) Grand Forks, ND 6 pm ...

98
1999 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
PINE BLUFF, Ark. —
Arkansas Tech coach Joe Foley
couldn’t have asked for much
more. His undersized, depthdepleted
Golden Suns went toothand-nail
with No. 1-ranked UND
for 30 minutes.
“It took that ballclub that’s still
out on the floor to beat us,” Foley
said, referring to UND, which was
in the midst of its annual postgame
celebration. “I don’t think there is
any other team in the country that
could have beaten us today.”
Foley had a point. The Golden
Suns, a team with nothing to
prove, pushed UND to the limit.
But UND had a point to prove,
too. The Sioux wanted to become
one of the all-time powers of
NCAA Division II women’s basketball.
And when push came to
shove, UND was the last team
standing once again.
The Sioux, behind a smothering
second-half defense, beat Tech
80-63 on Saturday in the championship
game of the NCAA Elite
Eight women’s basketball tournament
before 3,135 fans at the Pine
Bluff Convention Center.
The national title was the third
straight for UND and perhaps its
most difficult to achieve, considering
key injuries limited the team’s
traditional depth.
“We had to work very, very
hard,” UND coach Gene Roebuck
said of a win that many expected
to be a blowout. “It was a great
game. This was the first chance to
coach against Joe Foley, and it’s
easy to see why his team always is
in the national scene. His team
came to play.
“I knew this game wouldn’t be
easy. I give them a lot of credit for
making us work. But I give credit
to our players, too.”
Tech gave UND all it could
handle in the first half. The Suns,
who made eight of their first 12
shots, ran their complex half-court
offense to near perfection. Despite
giving up size at nearly every position,
the Suns’ complex screening
gave the Sioux fits inside.
Khelli Mullen’s basket at the
6:02 mark gave the Suns their
biggest lead at 34-28. But the
Sioux went on a 7-0 run before
Mullen scored again inside for a
36-35 lead.
But Jenny Crouse, who has rescued
the Sioux time and time again
throughout her career, scored at
2:45 to give UND a 37-36 lead.
The Sioux led by four (41-37) at
halftime but could not put the Suns
away until the final 10 minutes.
“We weren’t surprised by the
way they hit their shots early,”
UND’s Katie Richards said. “But
we were surprised at the number of
screens they set. They probably set
four (screens) for every shot they
took.
“They came out and played
with no fear, and you have to
respect that. We just needed to
calm down and play our kind of
defense.”
The Sioux did just that in the
second half, making it difficult for
the Suns, led by A.J. Thomas’ 16
points, to get decent shots. “They
last 10 minutes, they really picked
it up defensively, and that was the
difference,” Foley said.
And UND’s offense did its job,
too.
Laura Buss’ put-back at 11:22
pulled Tech to within 58-52, but it
was all UND after that.
Crouse, named the tournament’s
Most Outstanding Player
Triple Crown
Sioux withstand Arkansas Tech’s spirited challenge, pull away in second half to win their third straight title
By Wayne Nelson
Herald Staff Writer
(Reprinted by permission of the Grand Forks Herald)
for the second straight
year, scored back-toback
baskets followed
by a Tonia Jones’ fastbreak
basket for a 64-52
lead with 7:58 left.
Crouse led the Sioux
with 24 points.
The clinching baskets,
both 3-pointers,
came from Richards —
after she grabbed an
offensive rebound —
and from Jenny Hoffner.
The baskets came in a
span of 1:29. Hoffner’s
trey put UND up 70-57
with 6:54 left.
“To win championships,
you have to
have someone step up
who you don’t expect to
step up,” Roebuck said.
“Hoffner hit key 3pointers
and (Jones) did
a good job of taking the
ball to the glass.”
And, then there was
Kami Winger, whose 17 rebounds
led the Sioux to a whopping 49-27
advantage on the boards.
After the Sioux went up by 13,
they continued to play hard defensively.
The Suns managed only
two points in the last 4:30.
“Defense won this game,”
Roebuck said. “I thought we
played about as well defensively as
we could.”
Four UND players were in double
figures, led by Crouse. Jaime
Pudenz (14 points), Richards (13)
and Jones (12) also were in double
figures. But the points from
Pudenz were a major bonus, considering
the junior guard played
most of the Elite Eight on a
sprained right ankle.
She gutted it out, as did the
Sioux against a team that wasn’t
expected to make it past the South
Region Tournament.
The Sioux (31-1) were expected
to win their third straight
national title. And it perhaps was
the best of the three for seniors
Crouse, Winger and Casey Carroll.
“It was a good way to go out,”
Crouse said.