CHICAGO - The University of North Dakota women's basketball team came into the 2011-12 season with three goals in mind.
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Win the Great West Conference regular-season title.
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Be the first team since the transition to Division I to record 20 wins.
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Win UND's first DI women's basketball conference title.
With a big 88-48 win over Texas-Pan American in tonight's Great West Conference Tournament semifinal game, the first two of those three goals have now been accomplished. The third could be checked off tomorrow night as the Fighting Sioux face Utah Valley in the GWC tournament title game. It will mark the third straight year that the Sioux have advanced to the championships and the second title matchup between the Sioux and the Wolverines.
Despite a slow start, five UND players finished in double figures, including four reserves, as the Sioux (20-10) completed the season sweep over the Broncs (13-17).
It was a tight battle through the opening 14 minutes of play. The Broncs nabbed the initial lead, but the Sioux quickly took over with a 12-4 run to lead 12-8 with 14:23 on the clock. UTPA continued to fight, and with just under eight minutes left in the opening half, trailed by just one point (20-19).
On its next possession, UND's Carly Rothfusz (Jr., G, Eden Prairie, Minn.) took a pass from Brianna Williams and kissed it off the glass for two. That layup sparked a half-ending 17-4 run, giving the Sioux a 37-23 lead as the teams headed into the locker-room.
Back on the court, North Dakota wasted no time putting additional distance between it and Texas-Pan American. In the first eight minutes of the second half, the Sioux out-scored UTPA 20-4 and held the Broncs to just one field goal. With a firm grip on the game, Roebuck pulled his starters, allowing them to rest and the reserves to gain valuable playing time.
"We went with our regular rotation in the first half, but once we got ahead in the first part of the second half, we made sure that we rested some of the players so that they would be fresh for tomorrow's game," head coach Gene Roebuck said. "You have to look at the big picture, and that is that we want to be in a position to be fresh tomorrow."
The Sioux bench proved just as tough as the starting lineup as it maintained the 30-point advantage and even hit a game-high lead of 41 points (83-42) with two and a half minutes to go.
With everyone contributing to the score, the Sioux, as a team, punched their ticket to their third straight Great West Conference Tournament title game.
"We have a team that doesn't necessarily need to relay on its first five players," Roebuck said. "It's the players that come off of the bench that really keep us going. That's the advantage that we have over other teams. We have a strong bench."
Sophomore center Allyssa Wall led the starting lineup with 11 points on 5-for-12 shooting from the field and a 1-for-1 showing at the line. The North Sioux City, S.D., native also posted a career-high-tying five blocked shots and added six rebounds (four defensive).
The big story of the night was the play that UND got out of its reserves. With four players in double figures, the Sioux bench finished with a 56-15 advantage over the UTPA bench and a 56-48 advantage against the Broncs overall.
True freshmen guards Williams and Cy'erra Mills finished with 11 points apiece. Williams, a native of Minneapolis, Minn., scored nine of hers in the opening 20 minutes and was a key component in UND's game-changing 17-4 run to close the first half. She finished 4-for-7 from the field and went a perfect 3-for-3 at the free throw line. Williams led all players with four steals and dished out two assists.
Mills, who didn't check in until the 11:42 mark in the second half, sank a career-high four field goals and went a perfect 3-for-3 at the stripe to collect her first collegiate double-figure game. The Minneapolis, Minn., native dropped in back-to-back transition layups inside the two-minute mark and notched a pair of steals.
Finishing with 10 points apiece was Rothfusz and redshirt freshman center Emily Evers (Grand Forks, N.D.). Rothfusz went 4-for-7 from the field and 2-for-3 at the line while Evers hit 5-for-6 from the field.
The Sioux shot 47.8 percent (33-for-69) from the field and 64.5 percent (20-for-31) at the free throw line. UND struggled at three-point range, finishing 2-for-12 (16.7 percent). Collectively, UND dished out 20 assists and won the rebounding battle 50-45.
With UTPA's leading scorer Briana Torre out for the rest of the season due to injury, LaQuita Garner stepped up for the Broncs, netting 11 points on 3-for-10 shooting from three-point range and a 2-for-2 showing at the line. Erin Lewis added 10 points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field and a 4-for-4 clip at the line. The Broncs shot 24.2 percent (15-for-62) from the field, 20 percent (3-for-15) from three-point range, and 75 percent (15-for-20) at the stripe.
The 2012 Great West Conference Women's Basketball Tournament title game between the top-ranked Fighting Sioux and the second-seeded Wolverines will tip off tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. CT at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center in Chicago.
- Go Sioux -
