NDSU Faces Fort Wayne Saturday in Final Summit League Road Game of Regular Season

Game 27: at Fort Wayne (9-17, 3-10 Summit League)
Saturday, Feb. 21 | 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT)
Gates Sports Center | Fort Wayne, Ind.
Live Stats | Free Live Audio | Live Video
Radio: 740 The Fan (Jack Michaels, play-by-play), 12:40 p.m. CT airtime
TV: None

NDSU Notes (PDF)

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NDSU Faces Fort Wayne Saturday in Final Summit League Road Game of Regular Season
        NDSU women's basketball (9-17, 5-9 Summit League) will battle the Fort Wayne Mastodons (9-17, 3-10 Summit League) on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT) in Fort Wayne, Ind., at Gates Sports Center. The contest marks the final road game of the regular season for the Bison.

The Series Against Fort Wayne
        Saturday's showdown against Fort Wayne will be the 21st meeting in the all-time series. The Bison hold a 13-7 advantage in the series after claiming an 81-60 win over the Mastodons in Fargo on Jan. 17. The last time NDSU defeated the 'Dons in Fort Wayne was a 64-50 victory during the 2011-12 season.

About the Mastodons
        Fort Wayne is 9-17 overall and 3-10 in Summit League action entering the contest against the Bison Saturday afternoon. IPFW has lost four of its last five games. IPFW snapped a four-game skid with a 68-51 win at Denver Feb. 14.
        Preseason All-Summit League first team selection Haley Seibert leads Fort Wayne and ranks third in The Summit League with 18 points per game. Seibert leads the league in free-throw percentage, making 112 of 122 foul shots for an impressive 92 percent. Keanna Gary paced Fort Wayne in rebounding, averaging five boards per game.
        As a team, IPFW averages 70.6 points per game but gives up 73.5 per game.
        Fort Wayne is under the direction of 10th season head coach Chris Paul (St. Francis, 1994).

Catching Up With The Bison
        The Bison enter Saturday's contest at Fort Wayne with a 9-17 overall record and a 5-9 Summit League mark. North Dakota State has lost seven straight games dating back to its last victory at Omaha on Jan. 22.
        Brooke LeMar leads the Bison and ranks second in The Summit League in scoring through 26 games with 19 points per game. Holly Johnson is also averaging in double figures for the Bison with 12.2 points per game. Marena Whittle leads North Dakota State in rebounding, averaging 7.4 boards per game.
        As a team, the Bison are averaging 67.8 points per game but allowing 73.6 per game.

Notable Recent Career Milestones

Liz Keena pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds and netted 15 points in NDSU's contest at IUPUI Feb. 19 to record her second double-double of the season.
Marena Whittle snagged a career-best 20 rebounds in NDSU's game against Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 14. The 20 boards was just three rebounds shy of tying the NDSU single-game rebounding record (23) set by Linda Johnson vs. Augsburg in 1981.
Liz Keena scored a career-high 22 points and went a career-best 9-for-11 from the field in the game against South Dakota Sunday, Feb. 8. The Hastings, Minn., native also established a new career-high for steals with five takeaways in the game.
Holly Johnson matched her career-high for rebounds with 14 boards against Western Illinois Friday, Feb. 6.

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 946 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 1,186 points heading into Saturday's contest. She is the 31st student-athlete in NDSU history to join the 1,000 Point Club.

Breaking the 30-point Threshold
        Brooke 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 12 games in 2014-15.

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 17 of 26 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, four-percent better than its overall season average.

Converting Scoring Opportunities
        Liz Keena leads the Bison in field-goal percentage in Summit League play, going 51-for-108 from the field for 47 percent. Taylor Thunstedt is second, making 44 of 97 attempts for 45 percent.

Thunstedt for Three!
        Taylor Thunstedt is shooting a team-high 46 percent from three-point range in Summit League competition, going 30-of-66.

Inside Presence
        Emily Spier leads the Bison in field-goal percentage through 26 contests, making 52 of 118 attempts for 44 percent.

Hitting the Offensive Boards
        Holly Johnson and Liz Keena have combined for 114 offensive rebounds through 26 games. Keena leads the Bison and is third in The Summit League in offensive rebounds with 2.7 per game while Johnson is tied for second on the team with Marena Whittle with 1.7 per game.

From Downtown!
        Taylor Thunstedt leads the Bison from beyond-the-arc through 26 contests, going 46-of-121 for 38 percent. Kahla Becken is second, making 29 of 81 attempts for 36 percent.

Securing the Perimeter
        The Bison are holding opponents to just 30 percent (129-427) shooting from three-point range through 26 games. NDSU is averaging 6.2 made treys per game compared to just 5.0 for its opponents. NDSU has given up just 68 treys in its 14 Summit League games.

Creating Offense from Defense
        In their 14 league games, the Bison have scored 206 points off 207 turnovers, an average of 14.7 points per game. NDSU's opponents have only scored 198 points off 204 Bison miscues for 14.1 points per game.

Sharing the Basketball
        The Bison have tallied double-digit assists in 20 of 26 games this season. NDSU tallied a season-high 20 assists in the game against South Dakota Feb. 8.

Getting to the Basket
        The Bison have scored 170 points off fast break baskets through 26 games, compared to just 116 points from their adversaries. NDSU is averaging 6.5 fast break points per game.

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

NDSU in the NCAA National Statistics (As of Feb. 20)
Relevant Team Statistics:
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio - 94th out of 343 (0.91) ... Free-Throw Percentage - 78th out of 343 (.718)

Relevant Individual Statistics:
Points Per Game - Brooke LeMar (42nd out of 250, 19.0/game) ... Free-Throw Percentage - Brooke LeMar (77th out of 250, .815) ... Assists Per Game - Brooke LeMar (80th out of 250, 4.4/game)

NDSU in The Summit League Statistics (As of Feb. 20)
Relevant Team Statistics (All Games):
Points - 5th (67.8/game) ... Rebounds - 6th (38.2/game) ... Assists - 3rd (14.0/game) ... Free-Throw Pct. - 5th (.718) ... Steals - 3rd (7.7/game ... Turnovers - 4th (15.3/game) ... Blocks - 5th (3.3/game) ... Field-Goal Pct. - 8th (.394) ... Three-Point Field-Goal Pct. - 7th (.327)

Relevant Individual Statistics (All Games):
Brooke LeMar - Points: 2nd (19.0/game), Assists: 3rd (4.4/game), FT Pct.: 6th (.815), Steals: 8th (1.5/game) ... Marena Whittle - Steals: T-4th (1.8/game), Defensive Rebounds: 4th (5.6/game), Rebounds: 4th (7.3/game), Blocks: 5th (1.0/game) ... Holly Johnson - Rebounds: 7th (7.0/game), Defensive Rebounds: 6th (5.3/game) ... Liz Keena - Offensive Rebounds: 3rd (2.7/game)

Last Time Out: IUPUI Defeats NDSU Women's Basketball Thursday in Indianapolis, 76-65
        The North Dakota State women's basketball team (9-17, 5-9 Summit League) suffered its seventh straight loss on Thursday, Feb. 19, inside The Jungle, falling at IUPUI (13-13, 8-5 Summit League), 76-65.
        Liz Keena snagged a career-and game-high 15 rebounds and added 15 points for her second double-double of the season, while Brooke LeMar led the Bison in scoring with 16 points. Holly Johnson also reached double figures in the game, netting 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting.
        North Dakota State shot 38 percent in the contest, making 26 of 69 attempts, and were 5-for-12 from three-point range for 42 percent. The Bison were a perfect 8-for-8 at the free-throw line.
        IUPUI was led by Shaquira Scott, who netted a game-high 23 points after going 8-for-12 from the field.
        The Jaguars went 53 percent from the field in the game, going 30-for-57, and connected on 15-of-22 foul shot attempts for 68 percent.
        The Jags made just 1-of-5 three-pointers, but outscored the Bison in the paint, 52-22, and tallied 20 points off 20 NDSU turnovers, compared to just 18 points off 12 IUPUI miscues for North Dakota State.
        The Bison outrebounded the Jags, 38-35.

Last Time Out Against Fort Wayne: 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.

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.

Summit League Food Fight Challenge Women's Basketball Game Slated for Feb. 26
        Designated Summit League basketball games have been selected with each school having one week to collect food and/or cash donations for the Summit League Food Fight Challenge. At the end of the Food Fight schedule, the school that raises the most amount of food (measured in pounds) or cash donations will be declared the winner.
        The Food Fight Challenge scheduled for NDSU will be February 21st at the men's basketball game leading up to when the women host Denver on Thursday, February 26th at 7:00 p.m. at the BBF.
        NDSU's donations will be delivered to the Alba Bales House on the campus of NDSU, helping our own students.
      Summit League T-shirts will be passed out at the February 21st and February 26th NDSU basketball games for those who donate!
        Drop boxes will be at the Scheels Arena and the BBF beginning February 16th through February 26nd. Our donations will be delivered to the Alba Bales House on the campus of NDSU.

On the Horizon
        North Dakota State hosts Denver on Feb. 26 at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse in the final home game of the 2014-15 regular season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. At the conclusion of the contest, NDSU seniors Alisa Brown, Liz Keena and Brooke LeMar will be recognized.

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Players Mentioned

Kahla Becken

Alisa Brown

Holly Johnson

Liz Keena

Brooke LeMar

Emily Spier

Taylor Thunstedt

Marena Whittle