North Dakota State Athletics
15-12, 10-7
Western Illinois
10-18, 6-11
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Illinois | 18 | 33 | 51 |
| North Dakota State | 37 | 37 | 74 |
Birkel Drops in 22 as North Dakota State Defeats Western Illinois 74-51
2/27/2010 7:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball
FARGO, N.D.--Katie Birkel drained a career-high four three-pointers and scored 22 points to lead North Dakota State to a 74-51 win over Western Illinois in a Summit League women's basketball games played Saturday, Feb. 27, before a season-high crowd of 2,823 in the Bison Sports Arena. It was Senior and Parents Night.
North Dakota State (15-12, 10-7 Summit) is scheduled to host IUPUI (3-25, 2-15 Summit) at 7:05 p.m. Monday, March 1. The Jaguars lost 77-55 at South Dakota State on Saturday.
Birkel, a 5-foot-8 sophomore from Omaha, Neb., reached 20-plus points for the third straight game and fifth time in her career. She made 8 of 13 from the field including 4 of 6 from the three-point line.
Birkel scored 12 points in the first half as NDSU rallied from an early 7-2 deficit.
Erica Lewis' jumper to gave Western Illinois (10-18, 6-11 Summit) its last lead at 12-11 with 11:22 left in the first half.
North Dakota State took the lead for good, 14-12, with 10:27 remaining on a Hannah Linz three-pointer. The Bison would close the half with 23-6 run to build a 37-18 advantage at the intermission.
The Fighting Leathernecks did cut the the lead to 59-49 with 4:11 remaining on Anneloes Kodde's three-pointer. Jordan O'Brien scored nine of her team-high 13 points during the rally. Michele Salvatori and Kodde each added 10.
However, NDSU would score 15 of the next 17 points to end the game.
All 10 NDSU players who saw action scored. Jill Zaruba, one of five Bison seniors, made 6 of 6 from the foul line to score 12 points. Another pair of seniors, Ashley Samuelson and Nicole Vigil each netted nine points. It matched a career-high for Vigil, who nailed a 35-foot shot at the halftime buzzer.
North Dakota State shot 48.1 percent from the field compared to 39.2 percent for Western Illinois. The Bison made 17 of 19 free throws for 89.5 percent, while WIU made 6 of 9 attempts.
NDSU held a 38-24 rebounding advantage led by a career-high seven rebounds from Danielle DeGagne. Samuelson also came up with seven. Ashley Lord of Western Illinois snared a game-high eight boards.
