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Just when the North Dakota State women's basketball team seemed to have hit bottom, the Bison rebounded. Today they will begin play in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight playoffs with hopes of winning a third national title in four years.
The Bison (24-5) will face Missouri Western (29-2) in the last (8 p.m.) of the tournament's four opening games at the Bison Sports Arena in Fargo, N.D. Back on Feb. 18, after a homecourt loss to North Dakota that left them 18-5, the Bison, the defending national champions, held a team meeting to discuss their future.
"Everybody really opened up and said what they were feeling," said coach Amy Ruley, who in 15 seasons at NDSU has a 345-108 record. "What had been hurting us was the pressure we had put on ourselves. The lid kind of blew off the pressure-cooker in that meeting. We were our own worst enemies, and we realized basketball is a game where you need to have fun while you're playing. That's what we decided to do, and we haven't lost since then."
Three players from Minnesota have been instrumental in the closing charge. Darci Steere, a 5-10 senior forward...