he NCAA tournament in 2004 and 2005 ... Middle Tennessee State is the first team from the state of Tennessee that North Dakota State will face in its women's basketball history ... The Bison have played teams from 38 and of the 50 states in women's basketball ... Tennessee and Utah will be states, along with the District of Columbia that NDSU will cross off the list this season.
BISON ON RADIO:
The North Dakota State-Middle Tennessee State game is scheduled to be broadcast on WDAY 970-AM, Fargo with the pre-game show beginning at 1:35 p.m. (CST) Sunday, Dec. 4 ... Greg Burd, Scott Miller and NDSU Associate Athletic Director for Compliance Colleen Heimstead will describe the action ... Heimstead was a four-year letterwinner in women's basketball at Southern Illinois University from 1988-92 ... The two-time captain played on two NCAA tournament teams ... She also was radio color commentator for UNI women's basketball from 2001-2004 ... Available online by subscription at www.bisonzone.com.
KNDS-LPFM 105.9, Fargo ... Sports director Jim Otis will call the play-by-play and Brad Jones will serve as the color commentator on the NDSU student radio station ... Air time is set with a pregame at 1:30 p.m. ... The free webcast is available at www.thunderradio.fm.
WTMS, 88.3 FM, Murfreesboro, Tenn. ... David Reed will describe the action beginning with the 1:45 p.m. pregame show ... Available online free at www.GoBlueRaiders.com.
TAKE A KID: North Dakota State will offer the NCAA Take a Kid to the Game ticket special Sunday, Dec. 4 against Middle Tennessee State ... Children 17 and under can purchase a ticket for only $1 with the purchase of an adult ticket.
BALL STATE CLAIMS CREDIT UNION CLASSIC WITH 65-54 WIN OVER NORTH DAKOTA STATE: Ball State University used a 12-0 run midway in the first half to pull away and post a 65-54 victory over North Dakota State in the Ball State Credit Union Classic championship game played before 428 fans at Worthen Arena on Nov. 27.
The Bison (1-3) and Ball State (4-0) went back and forth for the game's first 10 minutes. NDSU went up 13-12 with 10:04 left as Brandee Gibbs hooked up with Kayla Dahlen on a nifty pass inside.
However, Kiley Jarrett drilled in a trio of three-points to help the Cardinals take flight and embark on a 12-0 run to build a 24-13 advantage. A pair of Ali Sonstelie free throws with 5:05 left stopped the BSU run. Ball State led 34-23 at halftime.
Sonstelie, a 6-foot-2 freshman from Winger, Minn., matched her career-high with nine points in the first half. She hit a three-pointer with 18:10 left in the second half to trim the deficit to 34-28. NDSU went scoreless for over three minutes and the Cardinals extended the cushion to 42-28. BSU led by double-digits for the remainder of the game.
Sonstelie finished with 17 points and five rebounds, while Danni Heintzelman chipped in 11 points and Kayla Dahlen contributed nine points and team-high eight rebounds. Sonstelie and Dahlen were named to the all-tournament team.
Stewart scored 15 points, Jarrett tallied 13 as five Cardinals reached double figures. Tournament MVP Julie DeMuth recorded a "double-double" with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Rachaelle Hampton netted 11 and Kelsey Corbin added 10 points and eight assists.
Ball State shot 38.8 percent from the field compared to 32.1 percent for the Bison. Both teams hit 4 of 16 three-point field goals. The Cardinals outrebounded NDSU 45-38.
BISON SOLID START, STRONG FINISH WEARS DOWN GEORGETOWN: North Dakota State used a solid start and a strong finish to defeat Georgetown University 64-51 in the opening round of the Ball State University Credit Union Classic played at Worthen Arena on Nov. 26.
After Georgetown (2-1) scored a layup right off the opening tap, North Dakota State never trailed again in the game. The contest was tied at 7-7, but the Bison went on a 13-3 run during one point in the first half to take a 20-10 lead with 7:11 left on an Ali Sonstelie jumper.
North Dakota State disrupted things offensively and held the Hoyas scoreless for over four minutes with alert plays from Lisa Bue, Kayla Dahlen, Katie Dahlen, Danni Heintzelman and Katie Lorenz. The Bison outrebounded Georgetown 29-19 in the first half and 48-43 for the game. NDSU hit 42.1 percent from the field compared to 29.9 percent for GU.
North Dakota State had to slow down Georgetown coming out of the second half gates. The Hoyas cut the NDSU lead to 38-31 on a Kristin Heidloff jumper with 12:45 remaining. However, Bue found Sonstelie inside for a bucket and Lorenz nailed a jumper in the lane to quickly extend the margin to double-digits and keep it the remainder of the game.
The Bison had three players in double-figures as Lorenz followed with 12 points, four assists and a pair of steals, and Brandee Gibbs added 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. NDSU held a 17-2 advantage in bench scoring as Sonstelie netted eight points on 4-of-4 shooting.
Kate Carlin led the Hoyas with a game-high 16 points, while Bethany Lesueur finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Kieraah Marlow contributed 12 points and five rebounds.
QUICKLY NOTING:
North Dakota State received a shot in the arm offensively from redshirt freshman Ali Sonstelie, who averaged 12.5 points and 3 rebounds per game off the bench over the weekend ... She scored a career-high 17 points against Ball State ... Sonstelie connected on 7-of-10 from the field including a pair of three-pointers and 9-of-10 from the foul line to earn all-tournament honors ... Kayla Dahlen also earned a spot on the all-tournament team ... Dahlen led NDSU on the boards, averaging 7.5 rebounds per game and added 8 points per game ... Ten of the 11 NDSU players have at least one assist this season ... Katie Lorenz has a team-high nine steals, while Brandee Gibbs recorded six blocked shots over the weekend and has 11 after the first four games ... North Dakota State will be without junior guard Amanda Girodat at least until mid-December when her knee injury will be re-evaluated ... North Dakota State has added 6-foot-1 freshman forward Kate Moser to the roster ... Moser walked on, tried out and added to the roster for this weekend's game ... Moser averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds per game last year for a Bismarck High School team that placed third at the state tournament ... She also connected on 45 percent from the field ... Moser also started in 56 of her last 57 games for BHS ... NDSU was 3-1 against Division I competition last season and is 11-23 overall ... North Dakota State reached 20 wins for the 20th time in the program's history in 2004-05, all under the direction of Hall of Fame head coach Amy Ruley, and the 19th time over the past 20 seasons ... There have been 25 straight winning seasons as Ruley has had only one losing campaign (14-15, 1979-80) during her 27-year career ... The Bison won a game on each of the seven days last season including an 12-0 mark on Saturdays.
NDSU SIGNS THREE DURING EARLY SIGNING PERIOD: Inger Hodgson, a 5-9 point guard from Barneveld, Wis. (Barneveld H.S.); Megan Shea, a 6-foot guard from Plymouth, Minn. (Robbinsdale Armstrong H.S.), and Jill Zaruba, a 6-1 post player from Monticello, Minn. (Monticello H.S.) have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball and continue their education at North Dakota State University. NDSU head coach Amy Ruley made the announcement Nov. 14. Hodgson, Shea and Zaruba made it official during the NCAA's early signing period which ran through Nov. 16.
is in her 27th year as head coach of the Bison. Ruley has compiled a record of 632-162, good for a .797 winning percentage ... She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in June, 2004, and the Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in November, 2004 ... Ruley was a contributing writer for the book, "She Can Coach -- Tools for Success from 20 top Women Coaches" ... The NDSU coach authored an article dealing with "Networking" ... Coaches from all levels and representing 13 different sports are featured in the book edited by Dr. Cecile Reynaud ... Ruley recorded the 600th win in her 25-year career when NDSU defeated Augustana (78-73) on Feb. 14, 2004. She became only the second active Division II women's basketball coach to reach 600 wins and the 14th at any NCAA Division (I, II or III) ... Ruley was inducted into the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in June, 2000, and was listed No. 8 on the "50 Greatest Sports Figures in North Dakota" as selected by the staff of Sports Illustrated in January 2000 ... Ruley received the inaugural C. Vivian Stringer Women's Coaching Award by the United States Sports Academy in 2002, and also received the Fargo Optimist Club's 2002 Friend of the Youth Award for her work with the youth in the Fargo-Moorhead community ... The 1993 WBCA Division II Coach of the Year, she has directed the Bison to 25 straight winning seasons, twenty 20-win seasons and 18 NCAA playoff berths ... NDSU has made nine NCAA Final Four appearances including five national titles in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996. The Bison also won or shared 10 NCC titles.
THE RECLASSIFICATION:
North Dakota State is in its third year of a five-year NCAA reclassification from Division II to Division I ... The Bison will not be eligible for NCAA playoffs until the 2008-09 season in any sport except wrestling and women's volleyball, which become tournament eligible in 2006-07 ... NDSU's football program competes at the Division I-AA level and is a charter member of the Great West Football Conference (formed in 2004), and women's soccer was accepted into the United Soccer Conference for the 2006 season, but no other Bison programs have locked up conference affiliation.
