Bison Women's Basketball Travels to San Antonio for UTSA Holiday Classic

Saturday, Dec. 28: North Dakota State Bison (3-8) at UTSA Roadrunners (6-4)

Convocation Center (2,650) | San Antonio, Texas | 2 p.m. CT
**UTSA Holiday Classic**

Sunday, Dec. 29: North Dakota State Bison vs. Northwestern State (La.) Lady Demons (5-5)
Convocation Center (2,650) | San Antonio, Texas | 12 p.m. CT
**UTSA Holiday Classic**

NDSU Game Notes (PDF) | NDSU Season Stats | UTSA Season Stats | Northwestern State Season Stats

Bison Look to Snap Four-Game Skid in San Antonio
        The North Dakota State Bison women's basketball team will look to snap a four-game losing streak when they travel south to San Antonio, Texas, Dec. 28-29, for a pair of games in the UTSA Holiday Classic.
        The Bison will battle the host UTSA Roadrunners in the opening game of the classic Saturday, Dec. 28, at 2 p.m. before taking on Northwestern State (La.) on Sunday, Dec. 29, at noon.

Against the Competition
        The Bison will face both the UTSA Roadrunners and the Northwestern State Lady Demons for the first time in program history Saturday and Sunday in San Antonio.

About the Competition

UTSA: UTSA, out of Conference USA, enters the UTSA Classic with an overall record of 6-4 after winning at Texas State, Dec. 22, 86-83. The Roadrunners are paced by Kamra King, averaging 15.3 ppg. UTSA's leading rebounder is Tesha Smith (6.0 rpg). As a team, UTSA is averaging 62.5 ppg while giving-up 62.5 ppg. The Roadrunners are being out-rebounded, on average, 39.8 to 38.9.
Northwestern State: NSU, out of the Southland Conference, enters the UTSA Classic with an overall record of 5-5 after falling to Texas, Dec. 20, in Austin, 90-60. The Lady Demons are paced by two players averaging double figures in Keisha Lee (15 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and Trudy Armstead (13.8 ppg, 10 blocks, 5.5 rpg). The leading rebounder for NSU is Chelsea Rogers, who is averaging 5.7 boards per game. As a team, NSU is averaging 61.8 ppg while allowing 65.9 ppg. The Lady Demons are being out-rebounded, on average, 43.1 to 34.7.

Last Time Out: Bison Drop Contest to Mississippi State, 72-62
        Junior Brooke LeMar scored 21 points, eclipsing the 20-point threshold for the fourth time this season, but it wasn't enough, as the NDSU women's basketball team (3-8) fell to Mississippi State (11-1) Tuesday evening inside the Bison Sports Arena, 72-62.
        The Bison fell behind 4-0 early after Mississippi State's Dominique Dillingham hit a jump shot two minutes into the game. NDSU responded, though, taking its first lead of the game, 10-8, with 13:57 remaining in the opening half after LeMar converted a layup.
        The two teams would trade leads the remainder of the half, with neither team able to gain more than a four-point edge.
        LeMar drilled a jumper with six seconds remaining in the stanza, allowing NDSU to pull within one of the Bulldogs going into halftime, 32-31.
        The Bulldogs opened the second half on an 11-2 run, taking a 43-34 lead at the 16:21 mark after a layup from Breanna Richardson, forcing an NDSU timeout.
        The Bison cut the deficit to six, 43-37, with 15:22 remaining in the half after sophomore Marena Whittle converted a jump shot, was fouled and made the bonus free throw to complete the old-fashioned three-point play, but Mississippi State answered, taking an 11-point lead after a pair of made free-throws from Kendra Grant with 11:51 on the clock.
        NDSU clawed back to within single digits on three occasions the remainder of the half, but couldn't get any closer, leading to the 72-62 setback.
        The Bison shot 38 percent from the field in the game, going 23-for-60, but were just 4-for-17 (24 percent) from three-point range. NDSU made 12-of-15 free throws attempted for 80 percent.
        LeMar paced NDSU in scoring, tallying 21 points on 9-for-18 shooting. Whittle scored 17 points while fellow sophomore Kahla Becken tallied 10 to round out the Bison in double-figures.
        Martha Alwal led Mississippi State, scoring a game-high 25 points, with 19 of her 25 occurring in the second half.

20 Times Four
        Brooke LeMar scored 21 points in the loss against Mississippi State Tuesday, Dec. 17. It marked the fourth time this season she has eclipsed the 20-point threshold.
        LeMar previously scored 20 or more points against Montana (21), Milwaukee (25) and Northern Iowa (24).

Sharing the Ball
        Brooke LeMar leads the Bison with 61 assists through 11 games. She is averaging 5.5 assists per game. The Canyon Country, Calif., native leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.6 points per game and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.9. LeMar is shooting 45 percent from three and from the field in the last 11 games. She has started in all 11 games so far this season.

Crashing the Boards
        Marena Whittle leads the Bison in rebounding, averaging 6.7 boards per game. She has been the leading rebounder in five of NDSU's 11 games.

Australian Connection
        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 18.3 of NDSU's 71.3 points per game.
        Whittle is NDSU's leading rebounder shot-blocker, with 12 blocks in 11 games. She has started in 10-of-11 games.
        Whatman has 31 assists, second-most on the team to only point-guard, Brooke LeMar, and has a team-high nine steals. She has started every game this season.
        The duo has a combined 16 steals in NDSU's 11 games.

Bison in The Summit League Statistics
        NDSU is fourth in the league in scoring with 71.3 ppg, third in rebounding, averaging 41.1 boards per game, and is tied for the league lead in assist-to-turnover ratio, with a ratio of 1.1. The Bison are third in the league in block shots, averaging 3.8 per game.
        Individually, Brooke LeMar is fourth in the league in scoring, averaging 15.6 ppg, and is second in the league in assists, averaging 5.5 per game. She is fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio, with a ratio of 1.9. Marena Whittle is tied for third in blocked shots, averaging 1.1 per game. Whittle is fourth in the league in rebounding, averaging 6.7 per game.

Crunching the Numbers
        NDSU is averaging 71.3 ppg while giving up 72.7 ppg to its opponents. The Bison are being out-rebounded by their opponents, on average, 42.5 to 41.1. NDSU is shooting 41 percent from the field and 35 percent from three. The Bison are shooting 73 percent from the free throw line.

Bison in the National Statistics
        The Bison are ranked 16th in all of NCAA Division I in turnovers per game, averaging 12.5 per game. NDSU is also in the top-50 for assist-to-turnover ratio, ranking 45th with a ratio of 1.09. The Bison are 64th in three-point field-goal percentage, making 34.5 percent of their shots.
        Individually, Brooke LeMar is ranked 40th in assists per game with 5.5 per 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 1-2 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 69-89 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
        Both games in the UTSA Holiday Classic will be aired live with Jack Michaels providing play-by-play. Saturday's contest against the Roadrunners will be broadcast on KFGO 790-AM while Sunday's game will be aired on KVOX 740-AM "The Fan."

Following The Herd
NDSU women's basketball games can be heard live on KVOX 740-AM "The Fan" or KFGO 790-AM throughout the season.
Free live audio is also available for every NDSU women's basketball game at GoBison.com/Showcase.
The Bison's home games against Mississippi State, Dec. 17, and South Dakota State, Jan. 25, will be aired throughout the state of North Dakota on MeTV. In addition, all games in The Summit League Women's Basketball Championship, Mar. 8-11, will be televised on Fox College Sports and Midco Sports Network.
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 are available free of charge for every home basketball game. Postgame video highlights and interviews will also be available at GoBison.com following each home game.

Up Next
      The Bison return home to face Northern Colorado in the final game before beginning Summit League play. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside the Bison Sports Arena Thursday, Jan. 2.

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