NDSU Women’s Basketball Welcomes New Mexico State in Second Round of WNIT

THIS WEEK         
The North Dakota State (19-11) women’s basketball team hosts New Mexico State (18-15) in the second round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) on Monday night. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. inside the Scheels Center at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex.
 
GAME COVERAGE
Watch: The game will be televised statewide on WDAY Xtra and will be streamed on WDAY+ for subscribers with Dom Izzo (play-by-play), Amy Ruley (analyst) and Sam Goetzinger (sideline) on the call.
 
Radio: Andy Rieckhoff (play-by-play) and Emily Dietz (analyst) will be on the call on Bison 1660 with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. Fans can also listen to the radio broadcast for free on GoBison.com/allaccess and the NDSU Athletics mobile app.
 
GoBison.com: Live statistics, audio and video links are available on GoBison.com.
 
TICKETS
Season ticket holders have until noon on Monday, March 24 to purchase their same seats. Season ticket holders can purchase through their GoBison.com account or stop by the ticket office in the south lobby of Scheels Center, or call the ticket office at 701.231.6378. Fans can also purchase single game tickets at GoBison.com/tickets or at the ticket office. Reserved and adult general admission tickets are $11 and youth general admission seats are $6. The ticket office is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
 
MONDAY PROMOTIONS
Fans will be able to enter-to-win multiple prizes on Monday night, including three custom NDSU pickleball sets and one signed basketball by the team. Winners will be announced at halftime.
 
LAST TIME OUT
NDSU fell short against Kansas City, 68-58, in the quarterfinal round of the Summit League Championship on March 7. Molly Lenz paced the Bison with a team-best 14 points, while Marisa Frost contributed 12 points with four rebounds and three assists. Avery Koenen also reached double digits in scoring with 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
WNIT HISTORY
The Bison will be making their third overall and third straight appearance in the WNIT. Last season, NDSU topped Montana, 72-63, in the second round in Fargo before falling short at Minnesota, 69-65, in the Super 16 round. The Bison made their first-ever appearance in the WNIT at Oregon in 2023.
 
THE SERIES VS. NEW MEXICO STATE
This will be the fifth all-time meeting between NDSU and New Mexico State dating back to 2009. The Aggies lead the series, 3-1, and have won each of the last two meetings, including a 79-69 win in Fargo on Nov. 13, 2015. The Bison picked up their only win the series on Nov. 12, 2010 with an 88-79 win in Fargo.
 
15-WIN MARK
The Bison have reached the 15-win mark for the third straight season under head coach Jory Collins. It marks the first time NDSU has put together three straight seasons with at least 15 wins since the 2007-10 seasons. The Bison enter the tournament one win away from back-to-back 20-win seasons. It would be the first time NDSU has recorded consecutive 20-win seasons since posting three straight from 2002-05.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAY AT A GLANCE
The Bison assembled an 11-5 mark in Summit League play this season to finish amongst the top three teams for the third straight season. NDSU started league play with a 4-0 mark for the second straight season before falling short at Kansas City. Last season, the Bison went on to finish with a 13-3 mark in league play, which was the most Summit League wins since joining the conference in 2007-08.
 
FOUR BISON EARN ALL-SUMMIT LEAGUE HONORS
Avery Koenen was selected to the All-Summit League First Team for the first time in her career, while senior forward Abbie Draper was named to the All-Summit League Second Team for the first time in her career. Sophomore guard Molly Lenz earned a spot on the Summit League All-Newcomer Team and freshman guard Marisa Frost was tabbed to the Summit League All-Freshman Team.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PEAK PERFORMER OF THE WEEK
For the first time in her career, Avery Koenen was named the Summit League Peak Performer of the Week on March 3. The Montevideo, Minn., native averaged a team-high 25.0 points and a team-best 11.5 rebounds per game. Koenen shot 67.9 percent from the field and 78.6 percent from the free throw line. She also handed out a team-best seven assists to go along with three blocks and two steals. She joined Marisa Frost and Abbie Draper as the only Bison players to win the award so far this season.
 
TURNING UP THE DEFENSE
NDSU has limited 12 teams to 59 points or less this season. 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 11-1 this season and 37-3 under head coach Jory Collins when holding an opponent to 59 points or less.
 
DEFENDING THE THREE
The Bison are limiting opponents to 28.0 percent from three, which leads the Summit League and ranks 46th in the nation. NDSU has held 14 opponents to 25.0 percent or lower from beyond the arc.
 
GETTING TO THE LINE
NDSU enters the week averaging 15.4 made free throws per game, which leads the Summit League and ranks 18th in the nation. The Bison are also pacing the league and are positioned 26th in the nation in free throw attempts per game with 20.4. Marisa Frost is shooting a team-best 80.2 percent from the line, which ranks ninth in the Summit League.
 
KOENEN IN LEAGUE PLAY
Avery Koenen averaged a team-best 14.9 points per game in Summit League play.  She recorded double digits in scoring in 13-of-16 games in league play, including eight 20-point performances. Koenen also ranked fourth in Summit League play with 7.6 rebounds per game and posted five double-doubles. Over the final month of the regular season since Feb. 1, she averaged 20.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game and hit the 20-point mark in six of the eight games over that stretch.
 
SEASON FIVE FOR SCHULTE
Abby Schulte is in her fifth season with the Bison and brings the most experience to the roster. Schulte  is the all-time leader in games played (146) and games started (135) in Bison history after setting both records earlier this season.
 
MORE SCHULTE MILESTONES TO WATCH
Abby Schulte has eclipsed 300 career assists with 339 over five seasons, which ranks 10th all-time in Bison history. She is also positioned in sixth place on the all-time free throws list with 306. Additionally, Schulte became the 37th member of the Bison 1,000 career points with 1,017. She is one of only three players in the NDSU Division I era to post at least 1,000 career points and 300 career assists, joining Katie Birkel (2008-13) and Heaven Hamling (2020-24).
 
FROST WARNING
Marisa Frost has produced double digits in scoring in 16 games coming off the bench this season, including two 20-point performances. 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.
 
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 25 games. She has notched double digits in scoring in 10 games, including a career-high 18 points in the win over Kansas City on Feb. 27. The Wayzata, Minn., native made 31 starts last season and averaged 7.2 points per game.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Bison are a combined 35-4 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 496-145 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 played eight of its next nine games on the road. Over that span, the Bison traveled over 16,000 miles in non-conference play across four different time zones. The non-conference schedule also featured six first time opponents with NDSU facing Eastern Illinois, Vermont, Troy, Charleston Southern, Tulane and Washington. 
 
WE’VE BEEN PLACES
Following the win at Denver, the Bison have played and won at least one game in five different time zones this season. NDSU has picked up wins in Alaska Standard Time, Eastern Standard Time, Pacific Standard Time, Central Standard Time and Mountain Standard Time. The only time zone in the United States the Bison have not played a game in this season is Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time.
 
TESTED EARLY
The Bison were tested from the very start and throughout non-conference play this season. Among the 11 NCAA Division I opponents in non-conference play, NDSU faced 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 also traveled to Washington, who finished with a 16-15 record last season and participated in the WBIT.
 
SOPHOMORE SURGE
The Bison return four 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 enrolled 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 295-138 overall record spanning 14 seasons. He notched a 199-58 mark during eight seasons at Emporia State. Collins has posted a 96-81 mark at NDSU over six seasons. His 96 wins at NDSU rank as the second-most in Bison history behind Amy Ruley (671 wins).