BOCA RATON, Fla. – The North Dakota State women's basketball team (2-2) claimed a 79-72 win over the Northeastern University (2-2) Huskies on Friday, Nov. 28, at FAU Arena to open play in the Florida Atlantic University Thanksgiving Tournament. Northeastern was receiving votes in the latest CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top-25 poll.  

With the win, the Bison level their overall record at 2-2 and advance to the tournament championship game against the New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 29, at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT). NJIT defeated the host Florida Atlantic Owls in the first game of the day Friday, 65-57.

Juniors Marena Whittle and Holly Johnson led three Bison in double figures with 19 points, with Whittle snagging a game-high 12 rebounds to secure her third straight double-double of the season. Senior Brooke LeMar added 14 points and five assists, matching her season-high.

NDSU went 30-for-68 from the field in the game for 44 percent, including an 18-for-35 (51 percent) clip in the second half, and were 6-for-14 from three for 43 percent. The Bison went 68 percent from the free-throw line, making 13 of 19 attempts. North Dakota State posted an impressive 45-27 advantage in total rebounds in the contest and scored 24 points off 15 Northeastern turnovers while dishing out 14 assists and committing only 11 miscues.

Trailing 57-54 with 8:07 to go in the second-half, North Dakota State freshman Taylor Thunstedt drilled a three to tie the game at 57. The trey sparked an 8-2 NDSU run that gave the Bison the lead with 6:01 on the clock. Sophomore Emily Spier put NDSU in front, 58-57, after she converted 1-of-2 free throws, and Whittle splashed home a jumper with 6:57 remaining to build the Bison lead to 60-57. After a pair of made free-throws from the Huskies' Amencie Mercier cut the lead to 60-59 with 6:27 to go, Johnson made a layup to cap the run and extend the North Dakota State lead back to three, 62-59.

After NU's Tiffany Montagne was fouled on a three-point field goal and made three foul shots to tie the contest at 62 with 5:43 to go, the Bison responded with a 6-2 spurt that gave them the lead for good. LeMar nailed a jumper with a little over five minutes on the clock, and Whittle followed with a layup about 30 seconds later to put North Dakota State up, 66-62. The Huskies' A'lece Mark brought Northeastern back within two, but a LeMar layup pushed the Bison advantage back to four, 68-64, with four minutes to go.

Mark led the Huskies with a game-high 28 points on 11-for-15 shooting and eight rebounds.

Northeastern shot 51 percent from the field in the contest, going 26-for-51, and were 6-for-18 from beyond the arc for 33 percent. NU made 14 of 21 free throws for 67 percent.