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St. Cloud State University
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Huskies ready for big dance
By Ryan Atkins
Published:
Thursday, March 17, 2005
SCSU's improbable postseason run gained steam as they broke a 16-year playoff drought Monday with a 81-70 win against Concordia-St. Paul.
The win earned the Huskies their first trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight since 1989.
SCSU (23-9) charged through the North Central Regional at Betty Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., unscathed as a No. 7 seed.
Through their journey, they upset No. 2-seeded Minnesota State-Moorhead, No. 6-seeded Minnesota-Duluth and the fourth-seeded Golden Bears in consecutive games to earn a trip to the Elite Eight in Hot Springs, Ark.
Against Concordia-St. Paul Monday evening, both teams struggled shooting the ball early as they combined for slightly better than 30 percent in the first half. The Huskies turned the ball over nine times in the first 10 minutes of the game.
The Golden Bears' Nakia Carlisle scored 13 first-half points, helping Concordia-St. Paul build a 38-29 halftime lead.
Down by 11 with 17 minutes remaining in the second half, SCSU began their charge.
Shannon Francis said that senior captain Katie Huschle gave the Huskies the motivation they needed during a halftime pep talk.
"Katie Huschle came into the locker room and her mouth was open. She wasn't pointing anyone out. She was very motivating and wanted it very bad," Francis said.
Huschle, who is questionable for next Wednesday's game with a sprained ankle, continued her determination on the court by giving SCSU their first lead of the second half, 57-56.
The lead was stretched 70-64 at the 3:06 mark following one of Francis' four 3-pointers.
Led by Erika Quigley and her 17 rebounds, the Huskies dominated the boards, pulling down 48 to the Bears' 31. The Huskies allowed Concordia-St. Paul only four offensive rebounds compared to 12 boards for SCSU.
The Golden Bears, using the same perseverance that contributed to knocking off top-seeded UND Saturday, closed the deficit to 71-68 when Francis knocked down a pair of free throws.
A Quigley rebound forced Concordia-St. Paul to foul Huschle, the nation's seventh-best free throw shooter.
Huschle converted on both attempts, and the Huskies made their last eight free throws to clinch the North Central Regional title.
"Defensively we had to stop them. Their point guard got hurt and Carlisle is better. She wasn't on our tape before," head coach Lori Ulferts said.
Quigley led SCSU with 27 points. Francis scored 20 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while grabbing six rebounds. Huschle finished with 10 points and junior April Carlson helped control the boards, grabbing nine.
A key for the Huskies was limiting Golden Bears' leading scorer Jennifer Pozzani (15.4 points a game) to 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
To get to the championship game, SCSU began by putting away Minnesota-Moorhead in the regional quarterfinal.
Led by Quigley's 20 points, first-year Kayla Rengel's 16 points and Francis 13 points, the Huskies was able to thump Moorhead 79-57.
SCSU then faced University of Minnesota-Duluth in the semifinals, a team that defeated SCSU twice previously this season.
In a previous meeting, UMD knocked down 13 3-pointers including 10 in the second half that put the nail in the coffin for the Huskies. Saturday evening, UMD mustered only five 3-pointers on 20 attempts, due to SCSU's suffocating defense. The Huskies held the Bulldogs scoreless the first seven minutes of the contest.
"It was a total defensive game. As the game progressed we got more confidence. We are playing pretty confident," Ulferts said. "UMD's (Katie) Winkelman killed us the first game and Stephanie Reiter lit it up with 3-pointers. Winkelman was in foul trouble. We didn't let her breath."
Winkelman and Reiter combined for six points on 2-of-8 shooting. SCSU was also able to contain All-American Lindsey Dietz to only 16 points, 13 in the second half, and eight rebounds. Dietz was the NCC's leading scorer (23.4 ppg) and second leading rebounder (10.8).
Quigley led SCSU with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Senior Molly Jensen came off the bench to score 11 points.
UMD's head coach Karen Stromme believes SCSU is a team to be reckoned with.
"I'm proud of the way our team battled," Stromme said on UMD's athletic web site. "I think tonight was just St. Cloud's night. They're playing like a championship team right now."
Ulferts understands that every team SCSU will face in the remainder of the tournament will be tough. However, she believes SCSU has the intangibles to continue this season.
"They have played hard. Sometimes they're not the best team talent wise on the court. But with defense and how they execute little things on offense we were able to pull out the win," she said.
Francis says her and teammates are still baffled when thinking that they started 2-5 in conference play and are now heading to the Elite Eight.
SCSU battles Warriors
From here, SCSU will face Northeast Regional Champion and No. 11-ranked Merrimack next Wednesday. The Warriors reached the Division II Final Four last season and have all five starters returning from a year ago. Joelle Martin leads Merrimack with 17.2 ppg and Eileen Brosnihan adds 11.8 ppg. Brosnihan was the Northeast Regional Most Valuable Player.
"Any time you're the lower seed you're not supposed to win," Ulferts said. "Mentally it's easier to play to win than to play not to lose. So we just go for it."
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