FARGO, N.D. – Avery Koenen netted a career-high 22 points to help lift the North Dakota State women’s basketball team to its fifth straight win after edging Oral Roberts, 79-69, on Saturday afternoon at Scheels Center.
After Oral Roberts (12-5, 2-2 Summit) led by as many as nine points in the third quarter, the Bison (11-5, 3-0 Summit) pulled back within two, 58-56, with a triple from Koenen with 7:54 to play in the fourth. Both teams then traded possessions until Koenen hit another jumper to regain the lead, 62-61, with 4:25 remaining. NDSU then slowly pushed its edge up to five with a clutch three-pointer from Abby Schulte to make the score 73-68 with 1:48 to play. NDSU held off Oral Roberts, who entered the week ranked No. 20 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, to pick up the 79-69 victory.
Koenen led the way with her first career 20-point game with a career-best 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field. She also added a game-high 10 rebounds with three assists, three steals and two blocks over 35 minutes of action. It marked her fourth double-double of the season and fourth consecutive double digit scoring performance.
Marisa Frost added 15 points with three assists off the bench and Molly Lenz contributed 10 points with five rebounds. Schulte, who set the NDSU all-time career games played record with 132, netted six points with a game-high four assists.
As a team, the Bison shot 47.5 percent (28-59) from the field with nine players in the scoring column. NDSU netted 34 points in the paint and the bench added in 30 points. The Bison also grabbed 31 rebounds in comparison to the Golden Eagles’ 29.
NDSU will be back in action at Omaha on Thursday night. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.
https://gobison.com/news/2025/1/11/womens-basketball-koenen-guides-ndsu-womens-basketball-past-oral-roberts-79-69.aspx