North Dakota State University (9-10, 7-4 Summit) is scheduled to play IUPUI (11-11, 6-5 Summit) at 3:30 p.m. (Central) on Saturday, Feb. 7, in The Jungle (1,215) in Indianapolis .. IUPUI has won four of its last six games ... The Bison are a game ahead of the Jags in the league standings ... IUPUI is 6-2 at the Jungle this season including a 4-1 record in Summit League play ... NDSU is 2-5 on the road this season including a 2-3 record in league play ... North Dakota State is scheduled to play Western Illinois (7-15, 5-6 Summit) at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9, at Waste Management Court (5,139) in Macomb, Ill. ... WIU broke a three-game losing streak with a 57-51 win at UMKC, coming back from a 24-point deficit ... The Westerwinds are 5-3 at home this season and 4-0 in league play ... WIU hosts No. 20/24 South Dakota State on Saturday, Feb. 7.

The Series: This will be the fourth meeting between North Dakota State and IUPUI ... The Bison lead the series 2-1 ... NDSU defeated the Jaguars 61-41 in Fargo on Jan. 12 ... This will be the fourth meeting between the Bison and Western Illinois ... North Dakota State leads the series 2-1 ... The Bison defeated the Westerwinds 52-46 in Fargo on Jan. 10.

Bison On Radio: WDAY 970 AM of Fargo is the flagship station of the Bison Radio Network ... Stations on the Bison Radio Network for the basketball season include WDAY-AM 970 (Fargo), KQLX-FM 106.1 (Lisbon/select games), ESPN AM 710 /KFYR-AM 550 (Bismarck/select games) and KPOK-AM 1340 (Bowman) ... Scott Miller, WDAY 970 AM sports director, will call the play-by-play ... Miller hosts Bison Feedback featuring women's basketball coach Carolyn DeHoff and men's basketball coach Saul Phillips on Tuesdays throughout the season ... Game audio and Bison Feedback are free and available on www.GoBison.com.

GoBison.Com Live Video, Live Stats: Follow the games on the Internet at GoBison.com with live in-game statistics ... Click on the "Live Stats" link at the left side of the page ... Live video is available by subscription starting at $7.95 per month on GoBison.com or $19.95 per month for the league package on TheSummitLeague.org.

Bison Coaches Corner: Bison Coaches Corner featuring women's basketball coach Carolyn DeHoff and men's basketball coach Saul Phillips can be seen weekly during The Summit League season exclusively on GoBison.com ... The show feature games footage and analysis from both Phillips and DeHoff ... The NDSU men's basketball show will be posted Tuesday afternoons (once on Thursday, Feb. 19 due to team travel), while the Bison women's basketball show will be uploaded Wednesday afternoons (twice on Thursday due to travel) ... Bison Coaches Corner is hosted by NDSU director of athletic broadcasting/sales Jeremy Jorgenson and directed by Andrew Young, a freshman broadcast journalism major from Napoleon, N.D.

Pink Zone Activities: The NDSU women's basketball team will participate in the 2009 Women's Basketball Coaches Association "Pink Zone" initiative ... Scheduled for Feb. 13-22, the global, unified effort by the association's coaches assists in raising breast cancer awareness ... On Feb. 14 at 2 p.m., the women's team will host Southern Utah ... The team will wear pink warm-up shirts and shoelaces as part of the "Pink Zone" effort ... The first 1,000 fans will receive pink t-shirts, courtesy of Innovis Health ... In addition, head coach Carolyn DeHoff, will donate 50 cents to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund for every fan in attendance, and State Farm Insurance agent Jill Henning will donate $100 for every three-pointer the Bison make to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund ... NDSU is one of more than 1,250 schools and organizations participating in the "Pink Zone" initiative this year ... Last season, the NDSU athletic department raised $3,605.50 for the American Cancer Society and to help in the fight against breast cancer ... The largest contribution came from then NDSU head women's basketball coach Amy Ruley and Henning ... Ruley, a breast cancer survivor, agreed to donate $100 dollars for every three-pointers the women's team made against IUPUI on Feb. 9, 2008 ... The total ended up being $500 and Henning matched the donation.

The Few, The Proud, The Bison: It's "The Few, The Proud, The Bison", as the North Dakota State women's basketball roster dropped to seven healthy players during the second half against Western Illinois (1-10-09) ... Junior guard Nicole Vigil is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury suffered with 13 minutes left in the second half against Western Illinois (1-10-09) ... Vigil will have knee surgery Feb. 6 ... NDSU head coach Carolyn DeHoff announced 5-foot-11 sophomore Abby Plucker (Parker, S.D./Parker H.S.) and 6-foot junior Megan Shea (Plymouth, Minn./) will miss the remainder of this season ... Injured diving for a loose ball against Denver (12-15-08), Plucker will have surgery Feb. 6 to repair her shoulder ... NDSU will apply for a medical hardship year at the end of the season for Plucker ... DeHoff said Plucker's projected rehab time for the shoulder is six months ... Shea hasn't played this season due to complications following knee surgery January 2008 and will redshirt ... Shea was cleared for practice in mid-January and will continue to work out with the team.

North Dakota State Adds Two: North Dakota State has added 5-foot-8 freshman Tiffany Giese (geese) from Ortonville, Minn., and 6-foot-1 junior Kate Moser from Bismarck, N.D. to the roster ... Giese was a volunteer on the practice squad ... Moser played in five games for the Bison in 2005-06 ... Moser was the 2008 NDSU Homecoming Queen.

Bison Fast Break: In the NCAA Division I statistics (thru games Feb. 1), North Dakota State junior guard Inger Hodgson is 38th in three-point shooting (.407, 37-91) ... Hodgson ranks 2nd in the Summit League three-pointers made (2.5 avg.) and 3rd in three-point shooting (.509, 27-53) ... Collectively, the Bison are 30th in NCAA Division I in free throw shooting (.748, 261-349) and 31st in field goal percentage defense (.364, 385-1058) ... North Dakota State was picked sixth in The Summit League preseason poll released in October ... The Bison four-game losing streak from Dec. 13 to Jan. 3 was the longest since an eight-game skid during the 2005-06 season ... NDSU had a season-high 52 rebounds at IPFW (1-5-09) including a season best 18 offensive rebounds ... North Dakota State is 9-2 when leading at halftime, 7-2 holding opponents to 59 points-under, 6-2 when committing fewer turnovers, and 6-3 when outrebounding opponents ... Whitney Trecker recorded a career best for the third time in five games, exploding for 17 points at UMKC (1-17-09) including nine in the game's final 6:35 ... Trecker has scored in double-figures in three of the last seven games ... Six-foot-2 senior Jerri Penley recorded a career-high 17 rebounds against IPFW (1-5-09) ... With 15 points and 14 rebounds, Penley recorded the first Bison "double-double" of the season and third of her career at Denver (12-15-08) ... Penley started the season 14 of 14 from the free throw line before missing her first against Oral Roberts (12-8-08) ... Penley made 19 straight free throws dating back to the second half of the UMKC (2-18-08) game ... Inger Hodgson came up with a career-high nine rebounds in the loss at Wyoming (12-13-08) ... Hodgson, who has a pair of 20-plus point scoring games this year, matched a career-high with five three-point field goals made at Southern Utah (1-19-09) ... Hodgson has dished out a career best five assists on five occasions this season including Oakland (2-2-09) and IPFW (1-31-09) ... ... Ashley Samuelson pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds at Denver (12-15-08) ... Samuelson, a 6-foot junior from Underwood, Minn., sat out 2006-07 due to NCAA transfer rules (transfer from Colorado State) and missed last year due to a knee injury in the preseason ... Carolyn DeHoff recorded her first victory as a collegiate head coach on Nov. 21 against Valley City State ... At 17-11 in 2008, North Dakota State surpassed the previous year's win total of 14 ... Three of NDSU's six league losses in 2008 were by five points or less ... The Bison led at halftime in 21 of 28 games in 2008, winning 15 of those games ... North Dakota State is 1-3 in overtime games the past two seasons and 14-12 overall in OT ... The Bison double OT win over Oral Roberts (3-1-08) tied the longest game in school history ... Lisa Bue, who was the 2008 Summit League Player of the Year, is playing professional basketball in Europe ... Bue started in Bosnia, but is currently playing in Alexandria, Romania ... Bue's roommate in Bosnia was former NDSU post player Brandee Gibbs.

Bison In The Summit League: North Dakota State is well represented in The Summit League statistics (league games only) released Feb. 3 ... Individually in the top 10, Inger Hodgson is 2nd in three-pointers made (2.5 avg.), 3rd in field goal shooting (.500, 53-106) and three-point shooting (.509, 27-53), tied for 5th in assists (3.2 apg), 7th in scoring (13.9 ppg) and 9th in steals (1.8 spg); Katie Birkel is tied for 5th in assists (3.2 apg), 9th in free throw shooting (.806, 29-36) and tied for 10th in scoring (11.7 ppg); Jerri Penley is 3rd in blocked shots (1.9 bpg) and 9th in rebounding (7 rpg), and Jill Zaruba is 2nd in free throw shooting (.914, 32-35) and tied for 7th in blocked shots (1.1 bpg) ... Team-wise (top three), the Bison are 1st in field goal percentage defense (.345, 213-617); 2nd in scoring defense (58.5 ppg), field goal shooting (.439, 241-549), three-point shooting (.355, 49-138), and blocked shots (4 bpg), and 3rd in scoring margin (+4.9 ppg), free throw shooting (.761, 166-218) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.307, 54-176).

Summit League Single Session Tickets On Sale: The Sioux Falls Sports Authority announced that single session tickets for the 2009 Summit League Basketball Tournament, to be played in the Sioux Falls Arena March 7-10, in Sioux Falls, S.D. went on sale Feb. 2 ... Each single session has two games with the exception of the Championship sessions which will only have the championship game ... The prices for the single session tickets are $15 for reserved seats, $12 for general admission seats with the exception of the finals sessions where general admission seats will be $10 ... There is also a student individual session ticket to any one session for $10.You must present a student ID to receive the student price ... Tournament tickets, full tournament or individual session, are available at the Sioux Falls Arena box office or by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or by visiting ticketmaster.com.

Zaruba's Career-High 24 Points Powers Bison Past IPFW: Jill Zaruba doubled her career-high with 24 points as North Dakota State defeated IPFW 72-65 on Jan. 31 before 1,335 spectators in the Bison Sports Arena ... Zaruba, a 6-foot-2 junior from Monticello, Minn., netted 14 in the first half on 6 of 7 shooting from the field and all four free throws to surpass her previous career best 12 points achieved in the 2007-08 season opener at Northern Arizona ... The Bison led 35-24 at halftime ... Zaruba recorded her second career "double-double" with 10 rebounds ... She connected on 9 of 13 field goal attempts overall and 6 of 6 free throws ... She added a career best three steals, two assists and one blocked shot ... Jordan Zuppe scored 11 of her team-high 15 points in the second half for IPFW, who who made things interesting ... Eva Ivanova also had 15 points including a 10 in the final half ... However, North Dakota State kept IPFW at a distance behind the alert play of Inger Hodgson, Katie Birkel, Whitney Trecker and Ashley Samuelson ... Hodgson scored 14 points and matched her career-high with five assists ... Birkel and Trecker each knocked down important three-pointers, while Samuelson fought for loose balls inside ... Birkel added 10 points including nine in the second half ... The Mastodons came back to close the deficit to within five points in the game's final 3:35 ... Sarah Haluska's two free throws cut the gap to 70-65 with 27 seconds remaining ... North Dakota State connected on 51 percent from the field compared to 40.7 percent for IPFW ... It was the third time this season the Bison made 50 percent of their field goals ... NDSU made 19 of 24 from the foul line for 79.2 percent, while the Mastodons hit 17 of 22 for 77.3 percent.

Jeltema, Pike Lead Oakland Past North Dakota State: Jessica Pike nailed a career best six three-pointers for 24 points and Melissa Jeltema posted her fifth ?double-double' of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead Oakland to a convincing 75-54 victory over North Dakota State on Feb. 2, before 736 fans in the Bison Sports Arena ... Jeltema scored 13 of her career tying 22 points in the first half as Oakland raced out 21-8 lead in the game's first nine minutes. OU had 13 offensive rebounds overall that led to 15 second chance points ... Jeltema made 9 of 11 field goal attempts and all four free throws ... The Golden Grizzlies led 37-22 at halftime ... The Bison didn't threaten in the second half ... OU's biggest lead was 73-48 with 2:09 remaining on Pike's sixth three-pointer of the contest ... Her 24 points matched a season-high ... Pike made 6 of 8 from beyond the three-point stripe ... Oakland connected on 47.4 percent from the field including 6 of 9 from three-point for 66.7 percent. The Golden Grizzlies made 15 of 16 free throws for 93.8 percent and outrebounded NDSU 38-25 ... Katie Birkel led the Bison with 14 points, four rebounds and tied a career-high with four steals ... Jill Zaruba flirted with a second straight ?double-double' with 11 points and nine rebounds, while Skye Smith came off the bench to score 12 points ... NDSU made 38.8 percent from the field overall including 1 of 8 from three-point ... The Bison connected on 15 of 18 from the free throw line ... NDSU committed 18 turnovers that led to 18 points for the Golden Grizzlies.

Hodgson Earns Summit League Weekly Honor Dec. 9: North Dakota State guard Inger Hodgson was named The Summit League Women's Basketball Player of the Week for her performance Dec. 6-8 ... The announcement was made by the league office Dec. 9 ... Hodgson, a 5-foot-9 junior from Barneveld, Wis., had back-to-back career high scoring efforts of 19 and 22 points in leading North Dakota State to a pair of wins over Centenary College (87-40) and Oral Roberts (76-57) during the opening weekend of Summit League play ... For the weekend, Hodgson connected on 16 of 20 field goal attempts for 80 percent including a 9 of 13 effort from the three-point line for 69.2 percent ... She added nine rebounds, eight steals and six assists, and committed only three turnovers in averaging 32 minutes on the court ... Hodgson hit 7 of 8 field goal attempts including a career best 5 of 6 three-pointers against Centenary on Dec. 6 ... She also came up with a career-high five steals against the Ladies.

North Dakota State Signs Five: North Dakota State University head women's basketball coach Carolyn DeHoff announced her first recruiting class on Nov. 12 ... It's a five-member class comprised of 6-foot-5 center Janae Burich (Roseville, Minn./Roseville H.S.), 5-10 guard Danielle DeGagne (Brandon, Manitoba/Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School), 6-2 center Paige Beck (Sioux Falls, S.D./Roosevelt H.S.), 5-11 guard Hannah Linz (Watkins, Minn./Eden Valley-Watkins H.S.), and 6-foot forward Rachelle Eckmann (St. James, Minn./St. James H.S.) -- who all signed national letters of intent to play basketball and continue their education at NDSU.

The DeHoff File: Carolyn DeHoff (Arizona State, ?91) is in her first year as head coach of the Bison ... DeHoff has a 9-10 record including 7-4 in The Summit League ... She recorded her first win against Valley City State on Nov. 21 ... DeHoff became the ninth head women's basketball coach in the program's 44-year history on April 11, 2008 ... DeHoff was the associate head coach in 2007-08 on Elaine Elliott's Utah staff ... The Utes finished 27-5 overall and won the Mountain West Conference regular season championship with a 16-0 record ... Utah lost in the first round of the 2008 NCAA tournament ... Her duties at Utah included coordinating recruiting efforts, point guard development, organization and planning of the schedule, coordination of academic affairs and directing summer camps ... During her stay in Salt Lake City, the Utes won 123 games, three regular season conference championships and one MWC tournament title ... Utah made three trips to the NCAA tournament including an Elite Eight berth in 2006 and a WNIT appearance in 2007. The Utes also had a pair of WNBA first round draft picks, along with second round pick in this year's draft ... Her 17-year coaching resume includes a five-year stop at Weber State. The Wildcats went from a sub-.500 program to a back-to-back NCAA tournament participant ... Weber State won consecutive Big Sky titles and posted back-to-back 20 win seasons ... Prior to Weber State, DeHoff was the top assistant at Wyoming for seven seasons and also was an assistant coach at Coronado High School in Scottsdale, Ariz ... A standout high school player at Cheyenne (Wyo.) East, DeHoff was a Street & Smith's All-America her senior year ... She played at Arizona State University from 1987-90, where she was a captain ... A native of Cheyenne, DeHoff graduated from Arizona State in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in exercise science and physical education ... She was inducted into her high school athletic hall of fame in September 2008.

Division I Certification: North Dakota State received NCAA certification this summer for active status as a Division I member in all sports. NDSU reclassified from Division II beginning with an exploratory year in 2003-04, three seasons as a Division I independent from 2004-07 and one season in The Summit League without eligibility for the league tournament or NCAA playoffs.