NDSU Women’s Basketball Travels to Charleston Southern and the College of Charleston

THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (3-2) women’s basketball team travels to the east coast to take on Charleston Southern (1-6) on Friday at 5:00 p.m. CT. The Bison will close out the trip at the College of Charleston (4-0) on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. CT
 
GAME COVERAGE
Watch: The contest at Charleston Southern will be available on ESPN+, while the game at the College of Charleston will broadcast on FloCollege for subscribers.
 
Radio: Andy Rieckhoff (play-by-play) will be on the call on Bison 1660 for both games. Pregame coverage against Charleston Southern will begin at 4:30 p.m. CT and 10:30 a.m. CT before the game at the College of Charleston.
 
GoBison.com: Live statistics, audio and video links are available on GoBison.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
NDSU fell short against Troy, 86-69, in the championship round of the Great Alaska Shootout. Avery Koenen led the way with her second double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Abby Krzewinski reached double digits for the third straight game with 13 points and six rebounds off the bench. Koenen and Krzewinski were both also named to the Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team.
 
THE SERIES VS. CHARLESTON SOUTHERN             
This will be the first all-time meeting between NDSU and Charleston Southern.
 
THE SERIES VS. COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
This will mark the first meeting between NDSU and the College of Charleston since 1982. In their lone matchup in 1982, the Cougars topped the Bison, 88-73, in Charleston, S.C.
 
KOENEN STARTS FAST
Through the first five games this season, Avery Koenen leads the Bison in points per game (12.4), rebounds per game (8.6) and steals per game (2.0). She has notched double digits in scoring in four of the first five games, including two double-doubles.
 
EXTRA LIFT FROM THE BENCH
After making 31 starts last season, Abby Krzewinski has come off the bench in all five games this season and made an immediate impact. She has reached double digits in scoring in each of the last three games and is averaging 10.2 points per contest.
 
SAME FIVE THROUGH FIVE
NDSU has used the same starting five of Molly Lenz, Abbie Draper, Abby Graham, Avery Koenen and Abby Schulte through the first five games this season. However, the Bison have still leaned on their bench with at least eight different players reaching the scoring column in each of the first five games.
 
NEW BISON IN THE LINEUP
Molly Lenz, Marisa Frost and Claire Stern all reached the scoring column in their Bison debuts against Drake. Lenz, who also made her first career start, tallied 10 points with four rebounds. Frost added eight points with two steals, while Stern contributed seven points. Amelia Hobson and Sacia Vanderpool each made their first appearances as Bison in the win over Jamestown. Hobson netted eight points and Vanderpool tallied two points off the bench.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Bison are a combined 26-3 over the last three seasons at Scheels Center, including a 13-1 mark at home last season. It marked the most wins at home since the 2004-05 season. NDSU is 487-144 all-time at home dating back to 1977-78. Additionally, the Bison won 11 straight non-conference matchups at home dating back to the 2021-22 season before falling short against Drake in the season opener.
 
FREQUENT FLYER MILES
After opening the season with three straight home games, NDSU will play eight of its next nine games on the road. Over that span, the Bison will travel over 16,000 miles in non-conference play across four different time zones. The non-conference schedule also features seven first time opponents with NDSU facing Eastern Illinois, Vermont, Troy, Charleston Southern, Tulane, Washington and Dakota Wesleyan.
 
TESTED EARLY
The Bison will be tested from the very start and throughout non-conference play this season. Among the 11 NCAA Division I opponents in non-conference play, NDSU will face seven teams that finished last season with at least 20 wins and advanced to a postseason tournament. That list includes: Drake (29-6, NCAA), Vermont (25-12, WNIT), Troy (22-12, WNIT), College of Charleston (22-10, WNIT), Montana (23-10, WNIT), Eastern Washington (29-6, NCAA) and Boise State (21-14, WNIT). The Bison will also travel to Washington, who finished with a 16-15 record last season and participated in the WBIT.
 
SEASON FIVE FOR SCHULTE
Abby Schulte is in her fifth season with the Bison and brings the most experience to the roster. Schulte has appeared in 121 games with 110 starts over five seasons. Her 110 starts rank ninth on the all-time NDSU games started list. Schulte is two starts away from passing Emily Dietz (2017-22) and Marena Whittle (2012-16) for seventh place. She has also handed out over 90 assists in each of the last two seasons, including a career-best 103 in 2022-23.
 
SOPHOMORE SURGE
The Bison return four true sophomores this season with Abby Krzewinski, Avery Koenen, Miriley Simon and Taryn Hamling in the lineup. NDSU played a total of 6,800 minutes last season, which was the most in NDSU history. The quartet of Krzewinski, Koenen, Simon and Hamling accounted for 30 percent (2,033 minutes) of the total minutes played. Krzewinski led the group with 739 minutes played over 34 games with 31 starts.
 
FRESH FACES IN FARGO
NDSU welcomed two transfers to the roster last spring with the additions of Molly Lenz and Sacia Vanderpool. Lenz appeared in all 34 games off the bench for Illinois State in her freshman season and reached the scoring column in 26 of 34 games. Vanderpool played three seasons at Wisconsin and appeared in six games after redshirting during the 2021-22 season.
 
YOUNG BISON
The Bison added three freshmen to the roster with the addition of Claire Stern, Marisa Frost and Amelia Hobson. Stern was the sixth-rated prospect in Minnesota on Prep Girls Hoops, while Frost was the ninth-rated prospect in Minnesota on Prep Girls Hoops and was also ranked as the 229th best prospect on Dan Olson’s Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. Hobson was the fourth-highest scorer in the Victorian Championship League in Australia and was selected to the under 18s Victorian State Team.
 
BISON ADD THREE ON SIGNING DAY
NDSU signed three players on signing day with the additions of Karrington Asp, Sophie Hawkinson and McKenna Johnson. Asp, who will enroll early in January, was a top-100 recruit on Dan Olson’s Collegiate Basketball Report ranked 92nd and was also the 11th ranked prospect in Iowa according to Prep Girls Hoops. Hawkinson was the ninth-ranked prospect in Minnesota according to Prep Girls Hoops and Johnson was the second-ranked prospect in North Dakota according to Prep Girls Hoops and was ranked 248th on Dan Olson’s Collegiate Basketball Report.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL        
For the second straight season, NDSU was picked inside the top three in the Summit League Preseason Poll. The Bison garnered 427 total points and one first-place vote to earn the third spot in the poll. South Dakota State was picked first with 562 points and 34 first-place votes, while Oral Roberts was slotted in second place with 479 points and one first-place vote.
 
LOOKING BACK AT LAST SEASON             
The Bison finished last season with the most wins in the NDSU Division I era with a 22-12 overall record and advanced to the Summit League Tournament championship game for the first time in program history along with their second straight appearance in the WNIT. NDSU also finished the season ranked inside the top 30 in the nation in three-point percentage (13th, 36.8), free throws per game (21st, 15.03) and scoring offense (29th, 75.4).
 
COLLINS CAREER NUMBERS       
Following the victory over South Dakota on Feb. 2, 2023, head coach Jory Collins earned his 250th career win. He has currently amassed a 279-130 overall record spanning 14 seasons. He notched a 199-58 mark during eight seasons at Emporia State. Collins has posted a 80-72 mark at NDSU over six seasons. His 80 wins at NDSU rank as the second-most in Bison history behind Amy Ruley (671 wins).
 
NEXT UP
NDSU will be back in action hosting Montana in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m., at Scheels Center.