NDSU Women’s Basketball Prepared for No. 24 South Dakota State and North Dakota

THIS WEEK         
The North Dakota State (16-7, 8-2 Summit) women’s basketball team wraps up its homestand hosting No. 24/RV South Dakota State (21-3, 11-0 Summit) on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., inside the Scheels Center at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex. The Bison close out the week at North Dakota (8-15, 3-7 Summit) on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
 
GAME COVERAGE
Watch: The game against South Dakota State will available on WDAY Xtra and the Summit League Network through the Midco Sports Plus app for subscribers. Dom Izzo (play-by-play), Amy Ruley (analyst) and Sam Goetzinger (sideline) will be on the call. The Saturday contest at North Dakota will be available on Midco Sports and the Summit League Network for subscribers.
 
Radio: Andy Rieckhoff (play-by-play) will be on the call for both games on Bison 1660 with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m.
 
GoBison.com: Live statistics, audio and video links are available on GoBison.com.
 
BISON BASKETBALL RADIO COACHES SHOW
The Bison Basketball Radio Show with NDSU men’s basketball head coach David Richman and women’s basketball head coach Jory Collins will broadcast live on Bison 1660 from the Holiday Inn Fargo each Monday for the rest of the season from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Fans are invited to attend in-person and submit questions for the show as hosts Sam Neidermann and Andy Rieckhoff break down the week of Bison basketball and preview the upcoming games.
 
BISON BASKETBALL TV COACHES SHOW
Join host Sam Neidermann, men’s basketball head coach David Richman and women’s basketball head coach Jory Collins for highlights, analysis and feature stories throughout the season on The Bison Basketball Show airing at 9:30 p.m. Wednesdays and 6:30 p.m. Thursdays on WDAY Xtra.
 
WEDNESDAY PROMOTIONS
The Wednesday night game against South Dakota State will be a green out with fans encouraged to wear green. The first 1,000 fans will also get a free green bandana in honor of the Green Bandana Project.
 
LAST TIME OUT
NDSU connected on 10 three-pointers to help pick up a 75-65 win over South Dakota last Saturday. Avery Koenen paced the Bison with a career-high 25 points on 9-of-13 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Marisa Frost reached double digits in scoring with 13 points off the bench, while Abbie Draper added 10 points with three rebounds.
 
THE SERIES VS. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
This will be the 104th all-time meeting between NDSU and South Dakota State dating back to 1976 with the Jackrabbits leading the series, 64-39. In their most recent meeting earlier this season, NDSU erased an 11-point halftime deficit before falling short at SDSU, 63-55. Abbie Draper led the way with a team-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds, one steal and one block. The Jackrabbits enter the week slotted No. 24 in the WBCA USA Today Top 25 Poll and are receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. SDSU is also ranked No. 1 in the latest College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.
 
THE SERIES VS. NORTH DAKOTA
This will be the 99th all-time meeting between NDSU and North Dakota dating back to 1967 with the series locked, 49-49. The Bison are 11-1 over the last 12 meetings with the Fight Hawks, including a 70-66 win in Fargo earlier this season. Avery Koenen led the way with a game-high 21 points with three assists, two blocks and two rebounds.
 
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.
 
SECOND HALF OF SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAY
The Bison have assembled a 8-2 mark in Summit League play and sit in second place behind South Dakota State. 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.
 
TURNING UP THE DEFENSE
NDSU has limited 10 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 9-1 this season and 35-3 under head coach Jory Collins when holding an opponent to 59 points or less.
 
DEFENDING THE THREE
The Bison are limiting opponents to 26.1 percent from three, which leads the Summit League and ranks 13th in the nation. NDSU has held 11 opponents to 25.0 percent or lower from beyond the arc.
 
GETTING TO THE LINE
NDSU enters the week averaging 15.7 made free throws per game, which leads the Summit League and ranks 17th in the nation. The Bison are also pacing the league and are positioned 20th in the nation in free throw attempts per game with 20.7. Marisa Frost is shooting a team-best 84.1 percent from the line, which leads the Summit League.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PEAK PERFORMER OF THE WEEK
For the first time in her career, Abbie Draper was named the Summit League Peak Performer of the Week on Jan. 27. She averaged a team-high 20.5 points to go along with a team-best 10.5 rebounds per game. The Waverly, Iowa native shot 60.0 percent from the field and added four assists, three blocks and one steal to her stat line. Draper notched a double-double with a career-high 29 points and 12 rebounds in the win at South Dakota. She joined Marisa Frost as the only Bison players to win the award so far this season.
 
KOENEN PUTTING UP NUMBERS
Avery Koenen begins the week leading the Bison in points (12.6), blocks (1.1) and steals (1.3) per game. She has reached double figures in scoring in 15 games, including four 20-point performances. Koenen has also notched four double-doubles this season and has totaled a team-best and career-high 25 total blocks on the defensive end of the floor, which ranks second in the Summit League.
 
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 (139) and games started (128) in Bison history after setting both records earlier this season.
 
MORE SCHULTE MILESTONES TO WATCH
Abby Schulte has eclipsed 300 career assists with 332 over five seasons, which ranks 10th all-time in Bison history. She is also positioned  in eighth place on the all-time free throws list with 293. Additionally, Schulte has netted 982 points and is 18 points away from the 1,000 career points mark.
 
FROST WARNING
Marisa Frost has produced double digits in scoring in 14 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 18 games. She has notched double digits in scoring in nine games, including a season-high 15 points in the win over Boise State. The Wayzata, Minn., native made 31 starts last season and averaged 7.2 points per game.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Bison are a combined 33-3 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 494-144 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 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. 
 
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 292-135 overall record spanning 14 seasons. He notched a 199-58 mark during eight seasons at Emporia State. Collins has posted a 93-77 mark at NDSU over six seasons. His 93 wins at NDSU rank as the second-most in Bison history behind Amy Ruley (671 wins).
 
NEXT UP
NDSU will be back in action at Denver on Thursday, Feb. 20. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. CT