NDSU Women's Hoops Begins Three Game Summit League Road Trip Thursday at Omaha

NDSU Begins Three Game Summit League Road Trip Thursday at Omaha
        The North Dakota State Bison women's basketball team (8-10, 4-2 Summit League) will tip-off a three game Summit League road trip Thursday, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. at Omaha (6-11, 1-4 Summit League).

The Series Against Omaha
        Thursday's game at Omaha will be the 55th meeting in the all-time series. The Bison lead the Mavs in the series, 42-12, but dropped both meetings with UNO last season. The last victory for the Bison over the Mavericks was a 63-62 triumph in Fargo during the 2012-13 season.

About the Mavs
        Omaha is 6-11 overall and 1-4 in Summit League play entering Thursday's contest after claiming its first league win of the season on Saturday, Jan. 17, at home against IUPUI, 66-49. UNO has dropped seven of its last eight games.
        Through 17 games, the Mavericks are led by a pair of players averaging in double figures. Mikaela Shaw (Deweese, Neb.) leads the team with 11.8 points per game, while Brianna Bogard (Georgetown, Texas) is second with 11.5 points per game. Shaw leads Omaha on the boards, snagging nine rebounds per game.
        As a team, Omaha is averaging 61.4 points per game and allowing 64.5 per game to its opponents.

Catching Up With The Bison
        North Dakota State is 8-10 overall and 4-2 in Summit League action after defeating Fort Wayne, 81-60, on Saturday, Jan. 17, at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.
        Through 18 games this season, Brooke LeMar (Canyon Country, Calif.) leads the Bison and The Summit League in scoring with 18.9 points per game. LeMar also leads the Bison and is third in The Summit League in assists with 4.6 per game. Holly Johnson (Minot, N.D.) is second on the team in scoring with 13.3 points per game and rebounding with 7.2 boards per game. Marena Whittle (Vermont South, Victoria, Australia) leads the Bison in rebounding with 7.5 rebounds per game. Emily Spier (Buffalo, Minn.) is shooting a team-high 50 percent from the field, going 41-for-82, and Taylor Thunstedt (Spicer, Minn.) and Kahla Becken (Lino Lakes, Minn.) lead NDSU from three-point range at 36 percent each.
        As a team, the Bison are averaging 69.8 points per game while allowing 73.2 per game to their adversaries.

Home Sweet Home
        The Bison are 6-2 in Fargo this season. NDSU is 4-1 in the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse and 2-1 at Scheels Arena.

Welcome to the Club!
        Brooke LeMar netted her 1,000th career point in the game at South Dakota on Thursday, Jan. 15. LeMar has scored 793 points as a Bison and netted 240 points in her two seasons with Southern Illinois prior to transferring to NDSU, giving her a total of 1,033 points heading into Thursday's contest at Omaha. She is the 31st student-athlete in NDSU history to join the 1,000 Point Club.

Breaking the 30-point Threshold
        LeMar has scored at least 30 points twice this season and is two 30-point games away from tying Kasey Morlock (1993-96) and Janice Woods (1982-86) for most 30-point games in a career. LeMar has exceeded 20 points in seven games in 2014-15.

Career Milestones

Kahla Becken netted a career-high 21 points in NDSU's win over Fort Wayne on Saturday, Jan. 17. The Lino Lakes, Minn., native went 7-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-6 from three-point range to tally 21 points. The seven made field goals and four made treys matched her career-highs.
Marena Whittle tallied a new career-high six steals against IUPUI on Jan. 8. Whittle has recorded at least one takeaway in 14 of 17 games this season with six multiple steal games.

Dishing it Out
        Brooke LeMar dished out a season-high nine assists in the Bison's win over IUPUI Jan. 8. The Canyon Country, Calif., native has at least four assists in 12 of 18 contests this season.

At the Line Down the Stretch
        Brooke LeMar is 14-of-18 (.778) from the free-throw line in the final minute of games this season, including a 7-for-8 (.875) mark in the final minute of Summit League games. As a team, NDSU is 19-of-25 (.760) at the line in the last minute of games this season, three-percent better than its overall season average.

Converting Scoring Opportunities
        Taylor Thunstedt leads the Bison in field-goal percentage in Summit League play through six games, going 19-for-33 (.576). Emily Spier is second, converting 16 of 29 attempts (.552), and Holly Johnson is third, going 35-for-68 (.515).

Thunstedt for Three!
        Taylor Thunstedt is shooting a team-high 50 percent from three-point range in Summit League competition, going 13-for-26.

Inside Presence
        Emily Spier leads the Bison in field-goal percentage through 18 contests, making 41 of 82 attempts for 50 percent. The Buffalo, Minn., native went 3-for-4 in NDSU's win over Fort Wayne Jan. 17.

Hitting the Offensive Boards
        Holly Johnson and Liz Keena have combined for 78 offensive rebounds through 18 games, helping the Bison score an average of 9.7 second-chance points per game. Keena leads the Bison and ranks 6th in The Summit League in offensive rebounds with 2.4 per game while Johnson is second on the team and ranks 12th in the league with 1.9 per game.

Bison in the Record Books
        Marena Whittle holds the career record for defensive rebounding average at NDSU with 5.1 boards per game. She ranks seventh in career minutes, playing an average of 28.5 minutes per game, and eighth in overall career rebounding average with 7.2 boards per game. ... Brooke LeMar is fifth in career free-throw percentage, going 200 of 249 from the charity stripe for 80 percent, and holds the career minutes record, playing an average of 36 minutes per game.

From Downtown!
        Taylor Thunstedt (29-of-81) and Kahla Becken (26-of-73) lead the Bison in three-point field-goal percentage through 18 games at 36 percent each.

Securing the Perimeter
        The Bison are holding opponents to just 29 percent (86-299) shooting from three-point range through 18 games. NDSU is averaging 6.5 made treys per game compared to just 4.8 for its opponents. NDSU has given up just 25 treys in its six Summit League games compared to 40 surrendered by its opponents.
Creating Offense from Defense
        In their six league games, the Bison have scored 83 points off 84 turnovers, an average of 13.8 points per game. NDSU's opponents have only scored 70 points off 85 Bison miscues for 11.7 points per game.

Sharing the Basketball
        The Bison have tallied double-digit assists in 14 of 18 games this season. NDSU matched its season-high with 19 assists in the win over IUPUI Jan. 8. The Bison also dished out 19 in the victory over Oral Roberts to open league play Jan. 2.

Getting to the Basket
        The Bison have scored 97 points off fast break baskets through 18 games, compared to just 59 points from their adversaries. NDSU is averaging 5.4 fast break points per game.

Road Woes
        North Dakota State has not won a road game since Jan. 18, 2014, when the Bison defeated Western Illinois in Macomb, 83-77. NDSU is 0-8 away from Fargo this season.

NDSU Summit League Women's Basketball Player of the Week Winners
Jan. 5 - Brooke LeMar

NDSU in the NCAA National Statistics (As of Jan. 19)
Relevant Team Statistics:
Free-Throw Percentage - 52nd out of 343 (.726) ... Three-Point Field Goals Per Game - 76th out of 343 (6.5/game) ... Three-Point FG Defense - 80th out of 343 (28.8) ... Scoring Offense - 93rd out of 343 (69.8)

Relevant Individual Statistics:
Points Per Game - Brooke LeMar (44th out of 250, 18.9/game) ... Assists Per Game - Brooke LeMar (63rd out of 250, 4.6/game) ... Free-Throw Percentage - Brooke LeMar (51st out of 250, .843)

NDSU in The Summit League Statistics (As of Jan. 19)
Relevant Team Statistics (All Games):
Points - 5th (69.8/game) ... Rebounds - 7th (37.9/game) ... Assists - 3rd (13.8/game) ... Steals - 3rd (7.6/game) ... Blocks - T-4th (3.2/game) ... Turnovers - 4th (15.5/game) ... Field-Goal Pct. - 6th (.405) ... Three-Point Field-Goal Pct. - 5th (.333) ... Free-Throw Pct. - 5th (.726)

Relevant Individual Statistics (All Games):
Brooke LeMar - Points: 1st (18.9/game), Assists: 3rd (4.6/game), FT Pct.: 4th (.843), Steals: 6th (1.6/game) ... Marena Whittle - Steals: 2nd (1.9/game), Defensive Rebounds: 2nd (6.1/game), Rebounds: 4th (7.5/game), Blocks: 4th (1.1/game) ... Holly Johnson - Rebounds: 5th (7.2/game), Defensive Rebounds: 5th (5.2/game) ... Emily Spier - Blocks: 9th (0.7/game)

Last Time Out: Becken Nets Career-Best 21 as NDSU Defeats Fort Wayne Saturday, 81-60
        Kahla Becken tallied a career-high 21 points and Taylor Thunstedt matched her career-best with 15 points, helping the North Dakota State women's basketball team (8-10, 4-2 Summit League) to an 81-60 victory over the Fort Wayne Mastodons (7-11, 1-4 Summit League) Saturday, Jan. 17, in front of 686 spectators inside the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.
        Becken converted 7-of-10 shots and made 4-of-6 three-pointers to tally 21 points. The seven made field goals and four made treys tied her career-highs. Thunstedt went 4-for-6 from the field and connected on 3-of-5 threes for 15 points. Brooke LeMar also reached double figures, netting 14 points. Marena Whittle paced the Bison on the glass, snagging a game-high 14 rebounds.
        North Dakota State shot 48 percent from the field, making 25 of 52 shots, and 44 percent from three-point range, going 7-for-16. The Bison were 75 percent from the free-throw line, making 24 of 32 foul shots.
        NDSU outrebounded Fort Wayne, 47-39, and dished out 18 assists.
        Haley Seibert paced Fort Wayne in scoring with 18 points on 6-for-20 shooting.
        The Mastodons went 24-for-74 from the field for 32 percent, and were just 2-for-23 from beyond-the-arc for nine percent. Fort Wayne shot 53 percent at the charity stripe, making 10 of 19 free-throws.

Last Time Out Against Omaha: Bison Women's Basketball Falters Against Omaha, 68-57
        The North Dakota State women's basketball team (6-20, 2-9 Summit) went just 21-for-66 (32 percent) from the field and 6-for-26 (23 percent) from three in a 68-57 loss to the Omaha Mavericks (10-14, 2-8 Summit) Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014 in Summit League play.
        The game marked the final women's basketball game ever played in the Bison Sports Arena and the final home contest for NDSU seniors Catavia Jones and Miki Stephenson.
        Marena Whittle led the Bison with a double-double, scoring 18 points to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds. Brooke LeMar scored 13 points, all in the second half, while Holly Johnson rounded out the Bison in double digits, tallying 11 points, respectively.
        The Mavs' Ericka House paced all-scorers in the contest, scoring 23 points on 8-for-16 shooting.
        Omaha shot 42 percent (21-for-50) from the field and 50 percent from three, going 3-for-6.
        NDSU outrebounded UNO in the contest, 42-37, but turned the ball over 16 times.

2014-15 Summit League Preseason Poll (1st-place votes in parenthesis)
South Dakota State (27) - 513 pts.
South Dakota (4) - 420 pts.
IUPUI - 408 pts.
Western Illinois (1) - 358 pts.
Denver - 253 pts.
Fort Wayne - 202 pts.
Oral Roberts - 178 pts.
Omaha - 165 pts.
North Dakota State - 158 pts.

Preseason Honors
        Senior guard Brooke LeMar, the reigning Summit League Newcomer of the Year and a second team all-league selection in 2013-14, was named to the preseason Summit League first team after averaging 15.1 points and 5.3 assists per game last season.

Head Coach Maren Walseth
        Maren Walseth was named the 10th head women's basketball coach in NDSU history Monday, April 14, 2014.
        Walseth joined the Bison after spending seven years as an assistant coach at Big Ten power Penn State University in State College, Pa., where she helped the Lady Lions to three Big Ten championships, four NCAA tournament appearances and two NCAA Sweet 16 appearances.
        Prior to becoming an assistant at Penn State, Walseth spent three years as an assistant coach at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
        A native of Bloomington, Minn., Walseth was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree as a forward at Penn State from 1997-2002. She was also a key member of the 2000 Lady Lion team that advanced to the Final Four and claimed the Big Ten conference championship. Walseth also was a member of the 1998 WNIT championship team. She graduated from Penn State in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in communications.
        Walseth was drafted by the Sacramento Monarchs in the third-round of the 2001 WNBA draft and spent four years playing professionally. She played for the Washington Mystics of the WNBA in 2002 before spending two years playing professionally in France. Walseth also spent a season with the Women's National Basketball League's (NWBL) Colorado Chill.
        Walseth's sister, Annika, played for NDSU during the 2007-08 season.

On the Horizon
        The Bison travel to Western Illinois for a 4:30 p.m. Summit League game on Saturday, Jan. 24.

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Players Mentioned

Kahla Becken

Holly Johnson

Catavia Jones

Liz Keena

Brooke LeMar

Emily Spier

Miki Stephenson

Taylor Thunstedt

Marena Whittle