Fourth Quarter Surge Pushes NDSU Women’s Basketball Past Washington State in WNIT Super 16

FARGO, N.D. – The North Dakota State women’s basketball team closed the fourth quarter on a 17-3 run to pick up the 59-51 win over Washington State in the Super 16 round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) inside the Scheels Center at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex on Thursday night.

With the win, the Bison improve to 21-11 and will advance to the Great 8 round of the WNIT for the first time in program history against Troy on Monday. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. CT at Scheels Center.

Season ticket holders will have until 5:00 p.m. on Sunday to purchase their same seats. They can purchase their tickets through their GoBison.com account, by calling the ticket office at 701.231.6378 or in person at the ticket office located in the south lobby of Scheels Center. A $5 order charge will be applied to all renewals.

Fans can also purchase single game tickets at GoBison.com/tickets or at the ticket office on Friday starting at 8:00 a.m. Reserved and adult general admission tickets are $15 and youth general admission seats are $8.

After entering the fourth quarter tied, 38-38, Washington State (21-14) opened up a 48-42 edge by the 7:14 mark with a layup from Kyra Gardner. The Bison then erupted for 17 straight points spanning just over six minutes to push their lead to 59-48 with a pair of free throws from Marisa Frost with 58 seconds to play. Astera Tuhina drained a triple with 52 seconds left, but the Bison closed out the remaining time for the 59-51 victory.

Avery Koenen led the way with a game-high 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting from field to go along with eight rebounds and two steals. Frost added in 12 points with five rebounds and three assists off the bench, while Abbie Draper also posted double digits in scoring with 10 points and four rebounds.

As a team, the Bison hauled in 42 rebounds in comparison to the Cougars’ 35. NDSU had nine different players contributing at least one. The Bison also scored 28 points in the paint and 11 second chance points.