NDSU Women's Basketball Battles No. 25 Harvard Saturday

Saturday, November 16: North Dakota State University Bison (1-1) at No. 25 Harvard University Crimson (2-1)
Lavietes Pavilion | Boston, Mass. | 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET

Media Coverage
Live Stats | Live Video | Radio: KVOX 740-AM "The Fan" (Chase Miller, play-by-play)
TV: None | @NDSUAthletics | @NDSUwbb

NDSU Game Notes (PDF) | NDSU Season Stats | Harvard Season Stats | Harvard Game Notes (PDF)

Bison WBB Looks to Bounce Back Against No. 25 Harvard Saturday
        After dropping a 64-59 decision to the Maine Black Bears Thursday, Nov. 14, in Bangor, the Bison will look to bounce back when they take on 25th-ranked Harvard Saturday, Nov. 16, beginning at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT in Boston, Mass.

Series History
        Saturday afternoon's contest against the Crimson will be the second meeting all-time in the series. NDSU leads the series, 1-0, after defeating Harvard inside the Bison Sports Arena last season, 81-72.

Scouting the Opponent
        Harvard enters the game with an overall record of 2-1 and is ranked 25th in the latest CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top-25 poll. The Crimson are coming off a 76-67 win against Boston University Nov. 13.
        Harvard is paced in scoring by a trio of players averaging double-figures. Christine Clark leads the trio (17.3 ppg, 3.0 apg.) followed by Temi Fagbenle (11.0 ppg., 7.0 rpg.) and Erin McDonnell (10.7 ppg., 3.0 apg.). The leading rebounder for the Crimson is Melissa Mullins with an average of 9.7 rpg.
        As a team, the Crimson are averaging 78 points-per-game (ppg.) and 40.3 rebounds-per-game (rpg.) while their opponents are scoring 80.7 ppg. and snagging 38.7 rpg. Through three games, Harvard is 80-for-168 from the field (47.6 percent), 16-for-52 from three (30.8 percent) and 58-for-77 from the free-throw line (75.3 percent). The Crimson are limiting their opponents to 42-percent shooting from the field (93-for-220).

Last Time Out: Maine 64, NDSU 59
Notes about the game:

The NDSU Bison saw a first-half lead slip away in a 64-59 setback to the Maine Black Bears Thursday, Nov. 14, in Bangor.
NDSU built a 13-point lead in the first half but failed to make a field goal the final 4:57 of the half, allowing the Black Bears to cut the lead to just three going into halftime, 37-34.
NDSU shot 51.6 percent from the field in the opening half, going 16-for-31. Maine was 13-for-30 for 43.3 percent.
The Bison were 4-for7 from three in the opening stanza for 57.1 percent and the Black Bears were 3-for-9 for 33.3 percent.
Brooke LeMar led the Bison in half one, scoring 12 points. Ashleigh Roberts paced Maine with eight points.
The Black Bears gained their first lead of the game at the 19:02 mark of the second half after a Lauren Bodine made three-pointer.
Maine led by as much as seven with 3:42 remaining in the second stanza before the Bison cut the lead to 59-57 after a pair of Liz Keena free-throws at the 1:06 mark.
Maine hit key free-throws the final minute of the half to seal the 64-59 victory.
LeMar paced NDSU for the game with her 12 first half points. Bree Whatman was the only other Bison to reach double-figures, scoring 11.
Roberts led Maine with a game-high 18 points.
The Bison were 21-for-58 from the field (36.2 percent), 4-for-12 from three (33.3 percent) and 13-for-18 from the charity stripe (72.2 percent) in the contest. Maine was 20-for-62 from the field (32.3 percent), 7-for-21 from three (33.3 percent) and 17-for25 from the free-throw line (68-percent).
The Bison were out-rebounded in the game by Maine, 46-38.
NDSU only shot 18.5 percent in the second half, going 5-for-27 and were 0-for-5 from three. Maine wasn't much better, going 7-for-32 from the field for 21.9 percent.
Specialty stats: points in the paint - NDSU 22, Maine 24, 2nd chance points - NDSU 4, Maine 16, points off turnovers - NDSU 14, Maine 10, fast break points - NDSU 2, Maine 2, bench points - NDSU 13, Maine 23

NDSU at Home

        North Dakota State has compiled a 408-75 (.845) record at home, including a 104-36 mark inside the "Friendly Confines" over the past 10 seasons good for a .743 winning percentage. The Bison are 1-0 at home this season.

Bison Eighth in Summit League Preseason Poll
        The North Dakota State women's basketball team was tabbed eighth in The Summit League preseason poll released Tuesday, Oct. 15 by the league office. The Bison received 74 points in the poll.
        NDSU returns nine student-athletes from last season's team, including one starter in sophomore forward Marena Whittle. She started 26-of-29 games in 2012-13, averaging 6.7 points and 7.1 rebounds.
        South Dakota State was picked to win the league after claiming its record fifth-consecutive Summit League tournament title and fourth regular season title in six years. The Jackrabbits collected 27-of-30 first-place votes and 319 points in the voting conducted by the league's head coaches, SIDs and media.
        IUPUI was picked to finish runner-up in the poll, collecting three first-place votes and 276 points, after finishing second in the regular season a year ago. South Dakota was third with 224 points followed by Fort Wayne in fourth with 179. League newcomer Denver, Western Illinois, Omaha and the Bison rounded out the poll.
        Fort Wayne's Amanda Hyde was voted as the league's preseason Player of the Year after garnering Player of the Year and first team All-Summit League honors last season.
        Accompanying Hyde on the first team are IUPUI's DeAirra Goss, 2013 Newcomer of the Year Western Illinois' Ashley Luke, last season's Tournament MVP South Dakota's Nicole Seekamp, Denver's Morgan Van Riper-Rose and South Dakota State's Megan Waytashek.
        The second team is composed of reigning Defensive Player of the Year in IUPUI's Dee-Dee Bellamy, South Dakota's Polly Harrington, Omaha's Ericka House, South Dakota State's Steph Paluch and Fort Wayne's Haley Seibert.

NDSU Women's Basketball to be Featured Twice on TV in 2013-14
        The North Dakota State women's basketball team will be featured twice on television during the upcoming 2013-14 regular season, the NDSU athletic department announced Thursday, Oct. 10.
        As part of NDSU's broadcast agreement with Hoak Media, the home games against Mississippi State Dec. 17 and South Dakota State Jan. 25 will be aired throughout the state of North Dakota on MeTV. The television network is available via over-the-air channels in Bismarck (5.2), Minot (10.2), Williston (8.2) and Dickinson (7.2) as well as through additional providers.

The DeHoff File
        Carolyn DeHoff begins her sixth season as head women's basketball coach at North Dakota State University. She has compiled a 67-82 record overall including a 46-42 ledger in The Summit League.
        The Bison finished the 2013 season with an overall record of 10-19 and were 6-10 in league play. Seniors Dani DeGagne and Katie Birkel were both named to the All-Summit League second team.
        NDSU once again excelled in the classroom in 2013. The Bison placed 10th on the WBCA Academic Top 25 Honor Roll in NCAA Division I and had eight student-athletes named to The Summit League Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence. Nine Bison were also selected to the Winter/Spring Summit League Academic Honor Roll.
        DeHoff was introduced as North Dakota State University's ninth head women's basketball coach in the program's 48-year history at a press conference in April 2008.
        DeHoff replaced Women's Basketball Hall of Fame coach Amy Ruley, who resigned in March 2008 to accept an associate athletic director for development position at North Dakota State.
        DeHoff completed her first season as associate head coach in 2007-08 and fifth overall 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 the 2008 draft.
        Her 18-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 during the fall of 2008.

The Opposing Coach
        Kathy Delaney-Smith is in her 32nd season as the head coach of the Harvard Crimson. She has a career record of 495-340 at Harvard. Delaney-Smith came to Harvard in 1982 after compiling a 204-31 record at Westwood (Mass.) High School. She is a 1971 graduate of Bridgewater State.

Bison Basketball on the Radio
        Saturday's game at Harvard will be broadcast live on KVOX 740-AM "The Fan" in Fargo-Moorhead. Chase Miller will handle play-by-play duties. Pregame gets underway at 12:40 p.m. CT.

Bison Basketball on the World Wide Web
        All home North Dakota State women's basketball games will be streamed live on a pay-per-view basis at GoBison.com/Showcase. Live stats courtesy of NDSU athletics and Stat Broadcast are available free of charge for every home basketball game. Postgame video highlights and interviews will also be available at GoBison.com and the NDSU athletics' YouTube page at YouTube.com/NDSUAthletics.

Up Next
The Bison return home to the friendly confines of the Bison Sports Arena for a showdown with Missouri Valley Conference member, Northern Iowa. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20.

Calendar

NDSU Women's Basketball Battles No. 25 Harvard Saturday

Next Event

Footer

Upcoming Events

NDSU Women's Basketball Battles No. 25 Harvard Saturday

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos

Footer