Bison Women's Basketball Captures DoubleTree LA Westside Thanksgiving Classic Title
NDSU women's basketball (3-4) defeated the UC Irvine Anteaters (4-3), 64-61, to capture the DoubleTree LA Westside Thanksgiving Classic Championship Saturday, Nov. 30, at Gersten Pavilion on the Loyola Marymount campus.
The Bison found themselves down, 5-0, early in the first half after the Anteaters scored five consecutive points to begin the game.
NDSU countered and tied the game at five, though, after a jumper from
Marena Whittle and three-pointer courtesy of
Miki Stephenson with 17:47 remaining in the half.
UC Irvine regained a five-point advantage, 13-8, after Camille Buckley made a layup, was fouled and made the bonus free throw with 16:11 on the clock.
The Bison responded again, knotting the game at 13 when
Brooke LeMar made a pair of free throws. NDSU gained its first lead of the game, 15-13, after
Emily Spier sank a layup with 14:02 remaining in the opening stanza.
NDSU would not trail the rest of the half, going into halftime with a 26-24 lead.
Whittle and Stephenson led NDSU in the first half, scoring seven points each. Buckley paced the Anteaters with seven first half points.
NDSU was 10-for-30 (33 percent) from the field, 3-for-9 (33 percent) from three and 3-for-4 (75 percent) from the free throw line in the half. UC Irvine shot 9-for-34 (27 percent) from the field, 2-for-9 (22 percent) from beyond the arc and made 4-of-7 (57 percent) from the charity stripe in the stanza.
The Bison fell behind 29-26 with 18:40 remaining in the second half after a three from the Anteaters' Lauren Spinazze.
NDSU tied the game at 36 with 12:22 on the clock after a pair of free throws from
Kahla Becken.
The Bison regained a 40-39 lead after LeMar made two free throws with 9:57 remaining.
NDSU maintained the advantage until the last minute of the game, when the Anteaters' Kelly Meggs nailed a three with 20 seconds remaining on the clock to tie the game at 61.
The Bison responded though, winning the game on a three with 14 seconds remaining courtesy of Becken.
The Bison were led in scoring by Stephenson and Whittle with 14 points each. Becken also reached double figures, scoring 12. Whittle led NDSU on the glass, snagging nine rebounds. Buckley paced the Anteaters, scoring a game-high 15 points.
The Bison were 21-of-53 (40 percent) from the field and 8-of-17 (47 percent) from beyond the arc. NDSU made 14-of-18 free throws in the game for 78 percent. UCI made 20-of-65 shots from the field in the game for 31 percent and were 7-of-21 (33 percent) from long range). The Anteaters made 64 percent of their free throws, going 14-for-22 at the line.
Stephenson and LeMar were both named to the All-Tournament team, along with UC Irvine's Buckley and Jennifer Tsurumoto, Loyola Marymount's Sophie Taylor and Montana's Torry Hill. LeMar was also voted the MVP of the tournament.
Sharing the Ball
Brooke LeMar leads the Bison with 38 assists through seven games. She is averaging 5.4 assists per game. The Canyon Country, Calif. native leads the team in scoring, averaging 17.6 points per game and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.8. LeMar is shooting 53 percent from three and 50 percent from the field in the last seven games. She has started in all seven games so far this season.
Crashing the Boards
Miki Stephenson leads the Bison in rebounding through seven games, averaging 6.4 boards per game. She pulled down a career-high nine boards in the Bison win over Montana Nov. 29. The Moorhead, Minn., native is also contributing on offense, averaging 7.4 points per game. Stephenson also has six blocks, good for third-most on the team.
Australian Connection
NDSU's
Marena Whittle and
Bree Whatman are both from Victoria, Australia. Whittle is a sophomore from Vermont South, Victoria, while Whatman is a freshman hailing from Beaconsfield, Victoria.
The duo has combined to average 17.6 of NDSU's 72.4 points per game so far this season.
Whittle ranks second on the team in rebounding, averaging 6.3 per game, and is NDSU's leading shot-blocker with nine blocks. She has started in 6-of-7 games for NDSU.
Whatman had 19 assists, second-most on the team, and has started every game so far this season.
Bison in The Summit League Statistics
NDSU is third in the league in scoring with 72.4 ppg and leads the league in rebounding, averaging 43.1 boards per game, and three-point field goal percentage, making 39 percent of its shots. The Bison are also tied for the league lead in blocks with 4.6 per game. Individually,
Brooke LeMar is second in the league in scoring, averaging 17.6 ppg.
Crunching the Numbers
Through seven games, the Bison are paced in scoring by
Brooke LeMar, averaging 17.6 ppg, and
Marena Whittle with 11 ppg. LeMar also has an impressive 38 assists in NDSU's seven games. The Bison's top rebounder is currently
Miki Stephenson, averaging 6.4 rpg. Whittle is second in rebounding with 6.3 rpg. As a team, NDSU is averaging 72.4 ppg while limiting its opponents to 69.4. The Bison are out-rebounding their opponents by an average of 43.1 to 40.1.
Road Trippin'
After facing Northern Iowa Nov. 20, the Bison will not return home to the Bison Sports Arena until Dec. 17, when they face Mississippi State. Between then, NDSU will travel to Milwaukee, Wis. to face Milwaukee, Los Angeles to participate in the DoubleTree LA Westside Thanksgiving Classic, Colorado Springs to compete in the Air Force Classic and Grand Forks to face rival North Dakota. The Bison will travel through three time zones and a total of 6,712 miles before their next home game.
NDSU at Home
North Dakota State has compiled a 408-76 (.843) record at home, including a 104-37 mark inside the "Friendly Confines" over the past 10 seasons good for a .738 winning percentage. The Bison are 1-1 at home this season.
NDSU Women's Basketball Inks Three on Early Signing Day
North Dakota State women's basketball head coach Carolyn DeHoff announced Wednesday, Nov. 13, the signing of Olivia Baker, McKenna Happke and Taylor Thunstedt to National Letters of Intent to attend North Dakota State University and play basketball beginning in fall 2014.
Baker, a 6-foot-4 post player from Minnetonka, Minn., is a four-year letterwinner on the basketball court at Minnetonka High School. She has played varsity basketball all four years at Minnetonka.
Happke, a 6-1 forward from Coon Rapids, Minn., is a two-time all-conference selection at Providence Academy in Plymouth, Minn. Happke was part of the 2012 Class 2A state champion basketball team, a member of the team that took fourth at the state tournament in 2011 and third at state last season. Happke has been named the team captain her upcoming senior year.
Thunstedt, a 5-8 guard from Spicer, Minn., is a three-time all-conference selection at New London-Spicer. She is also a three-time, first-team all-area honoree and garnered all-state accolades her sophomore and junior seasons after honorable mention as a freshman. Thunstedt set a new single-game scoring record at New London-Spicer her junior year, scoring 50 points in a game against Glencoe-Silver Lake. She also set a new record for 3-pointers attempted in a season (119) and broke the all-time school scoring record. Thunstedt averaged 29 points and made 104 threes that year.
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.
The DeHoff File
Carolyn DeHoff begins her sixth season as head women's basketball coach at North Dakota State University. She has compiled a 69-85 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.
Bison Basketball on the Radio
NDSU's game against Air Force Friday, Dec. 6, will air live on KFGO 790-AM beginning at 7:40 p.m. CT while the Bison's tilt against Wyoming Saturday, Dec. 7, will be live on KVOX 740-AM "The Fan." Gary Rogers will provide play-by-play for both contests.
NDSU Hoops on the World Wide Web
All NDSU home games will feature FREE live statistics provided by NDSU athletics and Stat Broadcast. FREE live audio is available for every NDSU basketball game at GoBison.com/showcase. A high definition, pay-per-view, video webcast is also available for all NDSU basketball home games at GoBison.com/showcase.
Up Next
The Bison will travel north to Grand Forks to face in-state rival, North Dakota, Saturday, Dec. 14, at 2 p.m. The game will be televised live on Midco Sports Net and Fox College Sports.
