Bison Women Head West to Denver

Thursday, January 17

Denver, Colo.

8 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Denver

2018-19 Women's Basketball Starters Huddle Stetson

Photo by: Ryan Workman

Bison Women Head West to Denver

1/16/2019 5:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball

North Dakota State at Denver
Thursday, Jan. 17 | 7 p.m. (Central) | Denver, Colo. (Hamilton Gymnasium)
Radio: Bison 1660 / 92.7 FM
TV: DenverPioneers.com
Live Stats: BisonStats.com

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

Scene Setter
The North Dakota State women's basketball team heads West for a Thursday game against Denver. This will be the fourth game West of the Missouri River for the Bison this year.

Denver Series History
The Bison own a 9-7 lead in the all-time series that dates back to an 86-54 win in Denver on Dec. 19, 1987. The Pioneers swept the season series last year, while the Bison swept the season series in 2016-17. Denver earned a 78-73 win in the Scheels Center last year, while taking a 98-79 victory at Hamilton Gymnasium a year ago. The last Bison win in Denver was Dec. 31, 2016, an 86-80 NDSU win.

Bison Notes

North Dakota State scored the final eight points of the game on Friday against Western Illinois for a 68-60 victory over the Leathernecks. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Leathernecks.
Sophomore Michelle Gaislerova turned in the second best scoring performance of her career against the Leathernecks with 29 points, one shy of her career-high against Northern Illinois earlier this season. She is the first player since Marena Whittle and Taylor Thunstedt to have two games of 29 or more points in a season. Both Whittle and Thunstedt each had two games with over 30 points during the 2015-16 season.
North Dakota State erased a 14 point deficit in the second quarter against Omaha by going on a 14-0 run over a 5:21 span.
North Dakota State raced out to a 7-0 lead against South Dakota. The Coyotes answered with a 15-0 run and didn't trail in the game from that point on.
The Bison beat Purdue Fort Wayne 70-54 in the Summit League opener. It was the first victory in a league opener since beating Oral Roberts 77-64 to open league play in 2014-15.
Holding a three point lead with 7:18 to play in the first half, the Bison ended the opening half against Purdue Fort Wayne on a 21-0 run. The Bison hit just one 3-pointer during the run, while eight of the points came at the free throw line.
Gaislerova was named to the 31st Annual Hatter Classic All-Tournament Team. Gaislerova averaged 14.5 points per game in the two Bison games in Florida.

Scouting Denver

The Pioneers are 10-8 overall and 3-2 in the Summit League. Last season, Denver went 16-14 with a 7-7 league record.
Denver is averaging 83.1 points per game, the sixth highest percentage in the country. A majority of those points come from downtown, as the Pioneers rank third in the nation with 186 3-pointers on the year.
With 102 blocked shots on the year, the Pioneers rank fifth in the nation. They also rank 11th with 5.7 blocks per game.
Lauren Loven leads the nation with 74 3-pointers on the season. She also ranks second in 3-point percentage at 50 percent. Loven also ranks second in the country with 4.11 3-pointers made per game.
Samantha Romanowski ranks fifth in the country with 114 assists. She also ranks ninth with 6.3 assists per game.

Last Time Out
   The North Dakota State women's basketball team scored the final eight points of the game Friday night, as the Bison beat Western Illinois 68-60 at the Scheels Center.
   Most of the first quarter was back and forth until the Leathernecks took an 11-7 lead with 4:37 to play in the quarter, the largest lead for either team at the time. A 3-pointer by Tyrah Spencer with 2:54 left started a 10-0 run by the Bison to close the quarter, taking a 17-11 lead on a jumper by Sofija Zivaljevic with :45 left in the frame.
   Michelle Gaislerova extended the run to 13-0 with a 3-pointer early in the second quarter, as the Bison took a 20-11 lead. NDSU led 28-21 with 4:00 left in the first half on a jumper in the lane by Gaislerova, but Western Illinois ended the half on a 14-2 run to take a 35-30 lead into halftime.
   A layup by Taylor Higginbotham started the second half scoring for the Leathernecks, but the Bison answered with a 9-0 run over a 3:22 span, as Gaislerova gave the Bison a 39-37 lead with 6:09 left in the third quarter on a jumper in the lane. Western Illinois again had an answer, going on a 10-4 run in a 2:15 span to take a 47-43 lead with 2:47 to play in the quarter. The Bison scored the final six points of the third quarter, as a layup by Zivaljevic with :02 left in the quarter gave NDSU a 49-47 lead into the fourth quarter.
   Back-to-back baskets by Gaislerova gave NDSU a 57-52 lead with 6:52 to play. The Leathernecks went on an 8-3 run in the next 2:21 to tie the game at 60-60 with 3:45 to play. A 3-pointer by Gaislerova with 3:14 left gave the Bison the lead for good, as NDSU scored the final eight points in the 68-60 victory.
   Gaislerova led the Bison with a game-high 29 points, one shy of her career-high from earlier this year against Northern Illinois. It was the 30th career double-digit game for Gaislerova and the fifth of 20 points or more. Spencer added nine points, while Zivaljevic had eight off the bench. Higginbotham led the Leathernecks with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Emily Dietz led the Bison with nine rebounds, while Rylee Nudell, Gaislerova and Spencer each had six boards, tying a career-high for Gaislerova. Zivaljevic had a career-high four assists, while Spencer added three assists and two blocked shots.
   NDSU was 27-of-53 (50.9%) from the field and 7-of-18 (38.9%) from beyond the arc. The Leathernecks were 23-of-68 (33.8%) from the floor and 8-of-26 (30.8%) from downtown. The Bison were 7-of-9 (77.8%) at the free throw line, while Western Illinois was 6-of-9 at the charity stripe. The Leathernecks had a 22-4 advantage in points off turnovers, while NDSU held a 15-6 edge in bench points.

98 and Counting
   North Dakota State has made at least two 3-pointers in 98-straight games dating back to a loss against Delaware on Nov. 29, 2015. The Bison are averaging 5.6 3-pointers per game this year and have hit at least seven in seven games.

Mixing It Up
   The Bison have played 10 different players in 16 games, with eight of them playing at least 157 minutes. The Bison have tallied 55 different lineups with the 10 players. NDSU has used 12 different lineups for at least 10 minutes. The combination of Rylee Nudell, Michelle Gaislerova, Tyrah Spencer, Marina Fernandez and Emily Dietz have the highest plus rating in 170:54 of playing together. The group has outscored opponents 265-252. Spencer has the highest plus rating of the year in the win over Purdue Fort Wayne, as the Bison were +28 in her 34:46 of action in the victory.

Making Them When They Matter
   The Bison are shooting 65.6 (137-of-209) at the free throw line this year, but they are hitting them when it matters. NDSU is 33-of-42 (78.6%) at the charity stripe in the final three minutes of games this season. Sofija Zivaljevic (eight) and Rylee Nudell (three) are perfect in the final three minutes at the line this year. Michelle Gaislerova has the most attempts and is shooting 8-of-11 (72.7) in the final three minutes.

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.

Last Time Against Denver
   The University of Denver Pioneers made three free throws in the final :14 of the game to secure a 78-73 victory over the North Dakota State University women's basketball team Saturday, Feb. 10, before a season-high 1,392 spectators inside the Scheels Center at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex in the annual Pink Game for Breast Cancer Awareness.
   Sophomore Reilly Jacobson scored 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field and went 4-of-4 at the free-throw line to lead NDSU. Fellow sophomore Sarah Jacobson added 14 points and a team-high four assists, while freshman Michelle Gaislerova posted 13 points.
   Sophomore Autumn Ogden snagged five rebounds, leading the Bison on the glass.
   NDSU and Denver (14-12, 5-6 Summit League) battled to five ties and three lead changes in the fourth quarter before the Pioneers used a quick 5-0 run to gain a 69-64 advantage with 2:17 to go in the frame. The Bison trimmed the lead down to two points twice in the final two minutes of the quarter, but could get no closer.
   North Dakota State shot 50 percent from the floor, 35 percent from three-point range and went 17-of-22 at the foul line for 77 percent, but were outrebounded, 38-24.
   The Bison also committed 18 turnovers in the game which led to 21 Pioneer points.
   Samantha Romanowski netted 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting, and Jordyn Alt pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, leading Denver.

On the Horizon
   The Bison will be back at the Scheels Center on Sunday, Jan. 20 against North Dakota. It will be the first meeting between the longtime rivals with both teams being members of the Summit League.