NDSU Women’s Basketball Prepared for Husky Classic in Seattle

THIS WEEK         
The North Dakota State (6-4) women’s basketball team travels to Seattle, Wash., for the Husky Classic this week. The Bison will take on Washington (7-4, 0-1 B1G) on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. CT before closing the trip out against Boise State (9-2) on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. CT
 
GAME COVERAGE
Watch: Both games will be available on B1G+ for subscribers.
 
Radio: Andy Rieckhoff (play-by-play) will be on the call on Bison 1660 for both games. Pregame coverage against Washington on Wednesday will begin at 3:30 p.m. CT and 1:30 p.m. CT against Boise State on Thursday.
 
GoBison.com: Live statistics, audio and video links are available on GoBison.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
NDSU pulled back within four points with less than a minute to play before falling short at Tulane, 67-61. Marisa Frost posted double figures in scoring for the fifth straight game with a team-high 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field. She also added a game-high five steals with four rebounds, three assists and one block to her stat line. Molly Lenz netted 13 points with three rebounds, while Abby Schulte contributed 11 points with seven rebounds.
 
THE SERIES VS. WASHINGTON 
This will be the first all-time meeting between NDSU and Washington.
 
THE SERIES VS. BOISE STATE
This will mark only the third meeting all-time between NDSU and Boise State with the series tied, 1-1. However, this will be the second meeting in the last three seasons after the Bison edged the Broncos, 68-53, in Reno, Nev., on Nov. 25, 2022. Abby Schulte netted 11 points with three rebounds and two assists.
 
AGAINST POWER FOUR OPPONENTS
Under sixth-year head coach Jory Collins, NDSU has played 11 power four opponents and is 2-9 in those meetings. Most recently, Minnesota edged NDSU, 69-65, in the Super 16 round of the WNIT last season in Minneapolis. The Bison have picked up a pair of power four wins under Collins after topping Minnesota in 2022 and Kansas in 2020.
 
TURNING UP THE DEFENSE
Through the first 10 games, NDSU has limited five teams to 59 points or less. The Bison held Eastern Washington to a season-low 47 points on 27.5 percent (19-69) shooting from the field. It marked the lowest point total NDSU has held an opponent to since limiting Denver to 43 points on Jan. 12, 2023. NDSU is 5-0 this season and 31-2 under head coach Jory Collins when holding an opponent to 59 points or less.
 
THE THIRD QUARTER IS KEY
The Bison have led at halftime in nine of the first 10 games this season and all four losses have come from being outscored in the third quarter. Vermont is the only team to have a halftime lead so far after building a nine-point edge, 31-22, on NDSU at the Great Alaska Shootout. The Bison went on to outscore the Catamounts, 24-10, in the third quarter to help pick up the 58-50 win.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PEAK PERFORMER OF THE WEEK
Marisa Frost was named the Summit League Peak Performer of the Week for the first time in her career on Dec. 9 after helping NDSU to wins over Montana and Eastern Washington. She averaged a team-high 20.0 points per game on 75.0 percent shooting from the field, 71.4 percent from three and 84.6 percent from the free throw line. Frost also distributed a team-high six assists to go along with three steals and one block.
 
FROST WARNING
Marisa Frost has produced double digits in scoring in each of the last five games coming off the bench. The Lino Lakes, Minn., native netted a career-high 27 points in the win over Montana. It marked the most points by a freshman in a single game in the NDSU Division I era and second-most by a freshman in Bison history. Over the last five games, Frost is averaging a team-high 15.4 points per game and shooting 57.9 percent (22-38) from the field.
 
KOENEN PUTTING UP NUMBERS
Avery Koenen enters the week leading the Bison in points (11.8), rebounds (6.5), blocks (1.3) and steals (1.5) per game. She has reached double figures in scoring in six of the first 10 games this season with two double-doubles.
 
KRZEWINSKI MOVES BACK INTO THE FIVE
After coming off the bench in the first five games, Abby Krzewinski has moved back into the starting lineup each of the last five games. She has notched double digits in scoring in five games, including a season-high 15 points in the win over Jamestown. Krzewinski made 31 starts last season and averaged 7.2 points per game.
 
NOTABLE MILESTONES TO WATCH
Abby Schulte eclipsed the 300 career assists with 301 at Tulane. She’s 28 assists away from entering the top 10 in Bison history. Rachel Otto is slotted 10th on the NDSU all-time assists list with 329.
 
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 27-3 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 488-144 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 six first time opponents with NDSU facing Eastern Illinois, Vermont, Troy, Charleston Southern, Tulane and Washington. 
 
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 126 games with 115 starts over five seasons. Her 115 starts rank seventh on the all-time NDSU games started list. Schulte is two starts away from passing Katie Birkel (2008-13) and Heaven Hamling (2020-24) for fifth place after both players made 116 career starts. Additionally, Schulte ranks tied for fifth on the NDSU all-time games played list with 126 and is two games away from moving into second place, joining Jody Buck (1989-93), Lori Roufs (1992-96) and Jenni Rademacher (1992-96) with 128.
 
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 282-132 overall record spanning 14 seasons. He notched a 199-58 mark during eight seasons at Emporia State. Collins has posted a 83-74 mark at NDSU over six seasons. His 83 wins at NDSU rank as the second-most in Bison history behind Amy Ruley (671 wins).
 
NEXT UP
NDSU wraps up non-conference play hosting Dakota Wesleyan on Sunday, Dec. 29. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m., at Scheels Center.