FARGO, N.D. – Five Bison scored in double figures to help the North Dakota State women's basketball team (11-17, 7-9 Summit League) post an 87-68 victory over the Denver Pioneers (8-21, 5-10 Summit League) before 648 spectators on Senior Night Thursday, Feb. 26, at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.
With the win, the Bison clinch the No. 6 seed in the upcoming Summit League Women's Basketball Championship and will face the No. 3 seed on Sunday, March 8, at 2:30 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D., at the new Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
NDSU senior
Brooke LeMar led all scorers in her final game played under the lights of the BBF, tallying 20 points on 6-for-17 shooting, marking the 14
th time the Canyon Country, Calif., native has scored at least 20 points in a game this season. Freshman
Taylor Thunstedt added a career-high 19 points on 5-for-7 shooting from three-point range, and junior
Holly Johnson tallied 18 points. Fellow junior
Marena Whittle chipped in 10, while senior
Liz Keena rounded out the Bison in double figures, scoring 10 points and snagging a game-high nine rebounds.
North Dakota State shot 45 percent from the field in the game, making 29-of-64 shots, and 5-for-15 from three-point range for 33 percent. The Bison went an impressive 92 percent from the free-throw line, making 24 out of 26 attempts.
NDSU was outrebounded by Denver, 46-39 but netted 17 points off 16 Pioneer turnovers.
Trailing by four with a little under eight minutes to go in the first half, Johnson converted a jumper that cut the Pioneer lead to two with 7:43 to go. The Bison tied the game, 25-25, less than 30 seconds later when
Marena Whittle hit a jump shot and took the lead for good the very next possession after Keena was fouled and drained a pair of free-throws. NDSU ended the stanza on a 21-4 run and went into halftime leading, 44-31.
The Bison continued the offensive surge in the second-half and led by 23 after a trey from Thunstedt with 12:48 remaining. Denver got no closer than 17 the remainder of the game.
Morgan Van Riper-Rose paced four Pioneers in double digits with 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Jordyn Alt led Denver on the boards, snagging eight rebounds.
The Pioneers shot 38 percent for the game, going 29-for-76, and were 4-for-12 from the perimeter for 33 percent.
