Bison Women's Hoops travels to Valpo to Start Road Trip

Sunday, December 16

Valparaiso, Ind.

1 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Valparaiso

NDSU Women's Basketball vs. Milwaukee - Dec. 9, 2018 - Scheels Center - Fargo, N.D.

Photo by: Carrie Snyder

Bison Women's Hoops travels to Valpo to Start Road Trip

12/14/2018 1:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball

North Dakota State at Valparaiso
Sunday, Dec. 16 | 1 p.m. (Central) | Valparaiso, Ind. (Athletics-Recreation Center)
Radio: Bison 1660 / 92.7 FM
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: BisonStats.com

Full Game Notes (PDF)
NDSU WBB on Twitter: @NDSUwbb

Scene Setter
The North Dakota State women's basketball team hits the road for the first of three-straight road games with a contest at Valparaiso on Sunday, Dec. 16.

Valparaiso Series History
This is the first meeting between the Bison and the Crusaders. NDSU is 3-16 all-time against members of the Missouri Valley Conference. It is the first time facing a team from the MVC since a 56-41 loss at Northern Iowa on Dec. 11, 2014. The last victory over an MVC school came on Nov. 13, 2009, when the Bison beat Northern Iowa 64-62 in Cedar Falls.

Bison Notes

NDSU used just seven players against Milwaukee last week, totaling four different lineups. Of the four lineups, one combo played 2:38, while the other played just :20 together.
Junior Rylee Nudell went over 500 career points in the loss against Milwaukee, while she also surpassed 1,500 career minutes played.
Dating back to last season, sophomore Michelle Gaislerova ran her streak to 10-straight games scoring in double digits with 13 points against Milwaukee.
Gaislerova has played all 20 minutes of the second half in all but one game this season. She only played 13 minutes against Creighton in the second half. She is averaging 8.3 points in the second half this year, including three games in double figures.
Sophomore Emily Dietz became the third different Bison to record a double-double this season, as she tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds against UMKC. Sophomore Danneka Voegeli (New Hampshire) and junior Tyrah Spencer (Northern Illinois) have also notched double-doubles this year.
Four players scored in double figures for the third time this season in the loss to North Texas. The Bison also had four players in double figures against Mayville State and New Hampshire.
Senior Marina Fernandez scored a career-high 20 points in the loss against the Mean Green. It was the first 20 point game of the year for a Bison player.
Spencer scored a career-high 19 points in the loss to Pacific. She was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, with three of those coming from long range.
The Bison assisted on 13 of their 24 made field goals against Pacific.

Scouting Valparaiso

After an 0-4 start to the season, the Crusaders have won three of their last five games.
The Crusaders were 13-18 last season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Tournament before falling to eventual champion Drake.
This is the second of three games this year against teams from the Summit League for Valparaiso. North Dakota beat the Crusaders 62-56 on Nov. 11. Valpo will also travel to Purdue Fort Wayne for a game on Dec. 19.
Meredith Hamlet recently played in her 100th game for Valpo, while making her 98th start. She currently ranks 11th in program history with 1,096 career points. She also ranks fifth in school history with 174 career 3-pointers.
Seven of Valpo's first nine games this season have been decided by 10 points or fewer. A year ago, Valpo had eight games the entire year decided by that slim of a margin. Valpo has two wins by two points or fewer this season, allowing the team to improve to 7-1 in those games since the start of the 2015-16 season and 7-0 in such games that are decided in regulation.

Last Time Out
   A balanced attack from Milwaukee led to a 57-55 Panther win over the North Dakota State women's basketball team Sunday afternoon at the Scheels Center.
   An early 9-4 run with all the points coming from Michelle Gaislerova and Emily Dietz gave the Bison a 12-7 lead with 6:01 to play in the quarter. Milwaukee ended the frame on an 8-4 run, as NDSU led 16-15 after the first quarter.
   Milwaukee opened the second quarter on a 10-4 run, taking a 25-20 lead with 5:08 left in the half. A 3-pointer by Rylee Nudell and a layup from Marina Fernandez tied the game, but the Panthers answered by hitting the last two buckets of the half, taking a 29-25 lead at the half.
   The Panthers extended their lead to seven, the largest of the game, with an early and-one from Bre Cera. NDSU answered with eight-straight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Nudell and Tyrah Spencer, as the Bison led 33-32 with 5:33 left in the third quarter. Neither team scored in the final 3:50 of the third quarter, as Danneka Voegeli's layup with 3:51 left cut the Panther lead to 36-35 going into the fourth quarter.
   A jumper by Gaislerova gave NDSU a 37-36 lead with 8:44 to play, but the Panthers went on an 8-2 run after the basket to take the lead for good. The Bison had the lead to two twice in the final 1:45, but couldn't get any closer as the Panthers won 57-55.
   The Bison were 22-of-59 (37.3%) from the floor and 7-of-20 (35%) from downtown. Milwaukee was 20-of-54 (37%) from the field and 7-of-22 (31.8%) from beyond the arc. NDSU was perfect on all four trips to the free throw line, while Milwaukee was 10-of-11 (90.9%) at the charity stripe. The Panthers had a 24-14 advantage in the paint and 32-2 advantage in bench scoring.
   Nudell finished with a game-high 16 points with a career-best four 3-pointers. She went over 500 career points with her fifth double-digit scoring performance of the season. Gaislerova scored 13 points, as she reached double-digits for the ninth time this season and 10th-straight game dating back to last season, while Dietz added 10 points. Cera and Lizzie Odegard led the Panthers with nine points apiece. Fernandez led the Bison with a career-high 10 rebounds, while Gaislerova and Spencer each had five boards. Dietz had a career-high three assists, while Spencer tied a career-high with three blocked shots. Fernandez led the Bison with a career-high four steals, while Nudell tied her career high with two steals.

Starters Going Deep
   The Bison have hit 58 3-pointers in the first eight games. Of those 58 long balls, 56 have come from the starting lineup. Cirkeline Rimdal and Reagan Heun each have one from the bench. Michelle Gaislerova leads the team with 24 3-pointers.

Mixing It Up
   Nine different players have seen action in nine games, with eight of them playing at least 28 minutes. The Bison have tallied 27 different lineups with the nine players. NDSU has used eight different lineups for at least 10 minutes. The combination of Rylee Nudell, Michelle Gaislerova, Tyrah Spencer, Marina Fernandez and Reagan Heun has outscored opponents 9-4 in 1:48 of action, the highest plus advantage for the Bison this year. Nudell has the highest plus rating of the year, as the Bison were +12 in her 33 minutes against New Hampshire.

Marathon Runners
   Michelle Gaislerova and Tyrah Spencer have played 40 minutes in six of the nine games this season. In the other three, Gaislerova has played 33, 38 and 36 minutes, while Spencer tallied minutes of 30, 37 and 23. They both played 40 against Mayville State, Wisconsin, Pacific, Northern Illinois, UMKC and Milwaukee.

Making Them When They Matter
   The Bison are shooting 64.4 percent (76-for-118) at the free throw line this year, but they are hitting them when it matters. NDSU is 14-of-17 (82.4%) at the charity stripe in the final three minutes of games this season. Michelle Gaislerova is 5-of-6 (83.3%), while Rylee Nudell (three) and Cirkeline Rimdal (two) are perfect in their late free throw attempts. Tyrah Spencer is 4-of-6 (66.7%) in the last three minutes as well.

91 and Counting
   North Dakota State has made at least two 3-pointers in 91-straight games dating back to a loss against Delaware on Nov. 29, 2015. The Bison have hit at least three in every game this season. In the last six games, NDSU has hit at least six per game while averaging 7.3 long balls a game in the span.

Zivaljevic is Eligible
   After sitting out the first semester after transferring from Iowa State, Sofija Zivaljevic is eligible to play against Valparaiso on Sunday. Zivaljevic played in eight games as a freshman at Iowa State, averaging 0.9 points in 3.5 minutes for a Cyclone team that went 18-13 in 2016-17.

2018-19 NDSU Women's Basketball Captains Announced
   Rylee Nudell, Tyrah Spencer and Marina Fernandez have been voted team captains for the Bison for the upcoming 2018-19 season. This is the second year that Spencer has been voted a captain.

Bison Sign Two on National Signing Day
   NDSU announced the signing of high school standouts, Nicole Scales and Olivia Skibiel, to a National Letter of Intent to attend NDSU and play basketball starting in the fall of 2019. Scales is a 5-9 guard from Park Ridge, Ill., while Skibiel is a 6-1 guard/forward from Snohomish, Wash. In 31 games last season, Scales averaged a team-best 12.4 points per game. She also owns the Maine South single-season record for 3-pointers in a season with 80 and highest free throw percentage (47-of-59 – 80%).Skibiel averaged 18.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game as a junior. She was 69-of-80 (86%) at the free throw line during junior season.

NDSU Women's Basketball Picked Seventh In Summit League Preseason Poll
   The North Dakota State Bison women's basketball team was voted seventh in the Summit League preseason poll released by the league office. South Dakota State was tabbed the preseason favorite with 24 first-place votes, while South Dakota was picked second with the remaining nine first-place votes. The Summit League finished 12th out of 32 conferences in RPI last season.

MidcoSN to Televise Every NDSU Women's Basketball Home Game in 2018-19
   Midco has announced that all 14 NDSU home games during the 2018-19 season will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network. All games will either be on MidcoSN or MidcoSN2. In addition, all home games will be covered by ESPN+ or ESPN3. Road games at Omaha (Jan. 6), South Dakota State (Jan. 23), North Dakota (Feb. 7) and South Dakota (Feb. 28) will also be on the Midco Sports Network.

On the Horizon
   The Bison continue the three-game road trip with a flight to Florida for a pair of games at the 31st Annual Hatter Classic, hosted by Stetson in DeLand, Fla. The Bison will face San Francisco (Dec. 19) and Stetson (Dec. 21) in the classic.