March 22, 2001
ROCHESTER, MN � The UND women�s basketball team opened up a 24-point halftime lead over Shippensburg in the NCAA semifinals on Saturday, but the Sioux had to hang on in the second half to defeat the Lady Raiders, 76-67, and advance to the NCAA Division II championship game for the fourth time in the last five years.
UND will play Cal Poly Pomona (26-3) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the championship game. The Broncos defeated Columbus State, 80-72, on Saturday to advance.
Against Shippensburg, the Sioux led 50-26 at halftime, but the Lady Raiders outscored UND 19-2 in the first 8:26 of the second half to pull within seven points (52-45). Shippensburg�s Jessie Gordon scored eight of her game-high 24 points during the run.
When UND�s Becky Moen (So., Morris, Minn.)scored on a driving layup with 11:34 left in the game, it broke a 6:44 UND scoring drought.
�I got the lane and took it, and it rolled in just barely,� Moen said. �Shippensburg kept going and took us a while to get things going in the second half. I�m glad the time ran out.�
Shippensburg got within six points twice, the latest with 7:01 to play (63-57).
UND responded with seven straight points on a three-pointer by Mandy Arndtson (Sr., Austin, Minn.), two free throws by Theresa LeCuyer (Sr., Anoka, Minn.) and two free throws by Arndtson, making it 70-57 with 4:47 left.
Shippensburg scored the next six points to make it 70-63 with 3:20 to play, but could not get any closer.
�I give Shippensburg credit because they could�ve packed it in at halftime,� said UND head coach Gene Roebuck. �They made a great game of it, and it went down to the wire.�
UND shot 63.3 percent from the field (19-of-30) in the first half, but only managed to shoot 23.5 percent (8-of-34) in the second half. The Sioux ended up with a 42.2 field goal percentage for the game, while Shippensburg ended with a 39.7 percent field goal percentage.
�It was a tale of two halves,� said UND guard Jenny Hoffner (Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.). �We didn�t come out with the same intensity in the second half as we did in the first. We really didn�t attack the way we should have. Instead of rolling over we did pull together and realized that this was our game.�
Arndtson scored 18 points to lead UND, and Boll and Moen each added 15 points. LeCuyer added 11 points. LeCuyer and Arndtson each had 10 rebounds. UND had a slight rebounding edge, 43-41.
Shippensburg ended its season with a 28-5 record.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS #7 North Dakota vs #21 Shippensburg (PA) 3-22-01 6 p.m. at Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, Minn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: #7 North Dakota 29-3 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 03 LeCuyer, Theresa.... * 3-11 0-2 5-8 3 7 10 3 11 3 3 1 0 29 10 Jones, Tonia........ * 3-6 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 3 6 1 1 0 0 25 24 Hoffner, Jenny...... * 3-7 3-7 0-0 1 1 2 2 9 3 2 0 4 33 43 Arndtson, Mandy..... * 6-18 1-6 5-6 5 5 10 2 18 4 2 1 1 37 44 Boll, Jenny......... * 6-11 0-0 3-8 3 6 9 4 15 1 9 1 2 32 21 Leighton, Marisa.... 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 22 Moen, Becky......... 5-9 2-3 3-4 1 2 3 4 15 2 2 0 4 24 23 Pick, Megan......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 5 55 Palbicki, Janel..... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 4 4 2 0 0 1 0 0 10 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 27-64 6-18 16-27 14 29 43 20 76 15 21 3 11 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-30 .633 2nd Half: 8-34 .235 Game: .422 DEADBALL 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-7 .714 2nd Half: 1-11 .091 Game: .333 REBOUNDS F Throw % 1st Half: 7-12 .583 2nd Half: 9-15 .600 Game: .593 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: #21 Shippensburg (PA) 28-5 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 15 Mikesic, Vickie..... * 4-11 1-2 2-2 1 3 4 4 11 3 8 0 3 35 21 Bray, Katie......... * 1-2 1-2 2-2 0 4 4 1 5 0 3 1 1 40 23 Pieczynski, Janette. * 2-5 0-1 5-7 1 2 3 5 9 3 4 0 1 30 33 Cline, Christa...... * 4-13 0-2 2-4 0 8 8 4 10 4 4 1 0 36 35 Gordon, Jessie...... * 9-17 0-0 6-8 1 8 9 3 24 0 0 0 0 26 14 Fredley, Jamie...... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 2 2 0 0 13 22 Swingler, Emily..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 24 Corrie, Erin........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 32 Rothery, Stephanie.. 2-8 0-0 2-2 4 3 7 4 6 1 1 0 0 18 TEAM................ 2 3 5 Totals.............. 23-58 2-8 19-25 9 32 41 23 67 13 23 2 6 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-27 .370 2nd Half: 13-31 .419 Game: .397 DEADBALL 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 .250 2nd Half: 1-4 .250 Game: .250 REBOUNDS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-7 .714 2nd Half: 14-18 .778 Game: .760 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: D. Kramer, J. Tentor, M. Duncan Technical fouls: #7 North Dakota-None. #21 Shippensburg (PA)-Cline, Christa. Attendance: 1775 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total #7 North Dakota............... 50 26 - 76 #21 Shippensburg (PA)......... 26 41 - 67 NCAA Division II Women's Elite 8 Semifinal Game One ... UND advances to NCAA Division II Championship game for the fourth time in five years ...