Bison Athletic Hall of Fame
Four different defenses couldn't stop them ... A team headed for Division I couldn't stop them ... A record crowd of 7,064 couldn't stop them ... Instead, the women's basketball players from the 5th-ranked North Dakota State University stopped 10th-ranked Southeast Missouri State University's 22-game winning streak by claiming their first NCAA Division II championship with an 81-74 victory on March 23, 1991 ... The national championship capped off a 31-2 season for NDSU. SEMO coach Ed Arnzen said, "I think they are truly the national champions ... A club that can come in here and face that pressure...it takes a tremendous team to do that." ... Team is a word NDSU head coach Amy Ruley cherishes ... Five Bison players scored in double figures against Southeast Missouri State ... NDSU advanced to the national title game with an 83-76 win over Bentley College in the semifinals ... The Bison again had five players in double figures against Bentley ... Then sophomore Nadine Schmidt claimed her first of two NCAA tournament MVP awards ... Schmidt was joined on the all-tournament team by lone senior Jill DeVries ... The Bison road to the final four included wins over Bellarmine in the NCAA quarterfinals, and the NCAA North Central Region victories over North Dakota and Augustana that took place in Grand Forks ... DeVries was the quarterfinals MVP, while Schmidt was the MVP of the regional ... NDSU finished second in the North Central Conference with a 16-2 record ... Sophomore Jody Buck was named the NCC Defensive Player of the Year ... DeVries, Schmidt and Buck were named to the all-conference team ... Capping off a storybook senior year, DeVries was named to the AWSF All-America first team and Kodak All-District team ... DeVries, Schmidt, Buck and Ruley are members of the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame.
