Bison Women Start Second Half of Summit League Schedule at Western Illinois

Sunday, February 3

Macomb, Ill.

1 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Western Illinois

North Dakota State University plays the University of North Dakota on Sunday, January 20, 2019 in Fargo, N.D. Photo by Carrie Snyder North Dakota State Women's Basketball vs. North Dakota - Scheels Center - Jan. 20, 2019

Bison Women Start Second Half of Summit League Schedule at Western Illinois

2/1/2019 5:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

North Dakota State at Western Illinois
Sunday, Feb. 3 | 1 p.m. (Central) | Macomb, Ill. (Western Hall)
Radio: Bison 1660 / 92.7 FM
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoLeathernecks.com

Full NDSU Game Notes (PDF)

NDSU WBB on Twitter: @NDSUwbb

Scene Setter
The North Dakota State (6-14, 3-5 Summit) women's basketball team starts the second half of the Summit League schedule on Sunday, Feb. 3 at Western Illinois (8-13, 4-4 Summit).

Western Illinois Series History
The Leathernecks own a 14-10 lead in the all-time series that dates to a 72-67 Western Illinois victory on Jan. 10, 2008. The Bison snapped a nine-game skid against the Leathernecks earlier this year with a 68-60 win on Jan. 11. NDSU is looking for its first win at Western Hall since Jan. 18, 2014, an 83-77 Bison victory.

Bison Notes

The Bison were scheduled to play Waldorf University in the final non-conference game of the year on Wednesday, but due to brutal cold and travel conditions, the game was canceled.
North Dakota State hit a season-high 11 3-pointers against Oral Roberts on Saturday. The Golden Eagles countered with 18 long balls, tied for the second most in Summit League history, in the 101-72 win by Oral Roberts.
Michelle Gaislerova scored 18 points against Oral Roberts, as she hit the double digit mark for the 16th time this season and 33rd time in her career.
Rylee Nudell scored a career-high 22 points against the Golden Eagles, as she went over 600 points for her career.
The Bison led South Dakota State 6-4 early in the game before the Jackrabbits went on a 22-2 run to take the lead for good in SDSU's 86-33 victory.
North Dakota State snapped an eight-game losing streak against North Dakota with a 69-57 win. It was the first win over the Fighting Hawks in the NCAA Division I era.
West Fargo native Emily Dietz had only played three minutes in her career against the Fighting Hawks entering the last game. Dietz finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes.
Entering the game at Denver, the Pioneers led the nation in 3-pointers made. Denver finished the game with five makes from downtown, the second fewest they have hit in a game this year.
North Dakota State scored the final eight points of the game against Western Illinois for a 68-60 victory over the Leathernecks. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Leathernecks.

Scouting Western Illinois

The Leathernecks enter Friday night's game against North Dakota with an 8-13 overall record and 4-4 in the Summit League. Western Illinois was tied for fourth in the league standings with Oral Roberts at the midway point of the league slate.
The final eight games of the league schedule are paired up in rotation for the Leathernecks. They will play two home games, two road games, two home games and two road games to finish the season. They wrap up the regular season with a Thursday/Saturday trip to Denver and South Dakota State.
Western Illinois ranks third in the nation in 3-point attempts with 615, while ranking 15th with 187 makes. The Leathernecks rank 206th in the nation in 3-point percentage at 30.4 percent.
The Leathernecks rank 12th in the nation with 235 steals and 22nd with 11.2 steals per game. They also have a plus-six turnover margin, ranking 13th in the country, while ranking 11th with 22.14 turnovers forced per game.
Taylor Higginbotham ranks 32nd among all active NCAA Division I players in points scored in her career with 1,665. She also ranks 50th overall amongst all NCAA divisions. Her 223 career steals also rank 19th among active NCAA Division I players.

Last Time Out
   Oral Roberts (11-10, 4-4 Summit) hit the second most 3-pointers in Summit League history on Saturday, as the Golden Eagles beat the North Dakota State (6-14, 3-5 Summit) women's basketball team 101-72 at the Mabee Center.
   The Bison held an 8-6 lead on the Golden Eagles late in the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Michelle Gaislerova. Oral Roberts closed the quarter on a 9-2 run, taking a 15-10 lead after the first quarter.
   Oral Roberts would push the lead to eight in the second quarter, but the Bison battled back to tie the game on a 3-pointer by Sofija Zivaljevic with 4:43 to play in the half. The Bison scored 12 of the final 19 points in the half, as a jumper by Zivaljevic as time expired tied the game at 38-38 at the half.
   Gaislerova opened the second half with a 3-pointer, but the Golden Eagles answered with a 25-7 run over a 5:27 span to push the lead to double digits for the remainder of the game. A free throw to close the quarter gave Oral Roberts a 73-53 lead after the third quarter, as the Golden Eagles were 12-of-15 from the field in the third quarter, including hitting all seven 3-point attempts.
   Oral Roberts used an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter to put the game away. The Golden Eagles were 5-of-10 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter.
   Rylee Nudell led the Bison with a career-high 22 points. Gaislerova and Zivaljevic joined her in double figures with 18 and 11 points apiece, tying a career-high for Zivaljevic. KeniJo Lippe and Maya Mayberry scored 34 and 31 points respectively for the Golden Eagles. Emily Dietz led the Bison with five rebounds, while Danneka Voegeli added four boards off the bench. Tyrah Spencer tied a season-high with four assists, while Cirkeline Rimdal tied a career-high with three assists.
   NDSU was 22-of-47 (46.8%) from the floor and 11-of-20 (55%) from 3-point range, tied for the sixth best percentage in school history. Oral Roberts was 35-of-59 (59.3%) from the field and 18-of-33 (54.5%) from 3-point range, tied for the second most in Summit League history. The Bison were 17-of-31 (54.8%) from the free throw line, while Oral Roberts was 13-of-16 (81.3%) at the charity stripe. Oral Roberts held advantages in points in the paint (34-16), second chance points (14-7) and fastbreak points (12-0).

102 and Counting
   North Dakota State has made at least two 3-pointers in 102-straight games dating back to a loss against Delaware on Nov. 29, 2015. The Bison are averaging 5.8 3-pointers per game this year and have hit at least seven in nine games.
Mixing It Up
   The Bison have played 10 different players in 20 games, with eight of them playing at least 236 minutes. The Bison have tallied 70 different lineups with the 10 players. NDSU has used 15 different lineups for at least 10 minutes. The Bison have used two lineups this year that are outscoring opponents by 10 points. In 16:19 of playing together, Michelle Gaislerova, Tyrah Spencer, Danneka Voegeli, Cirkeline Rimdal and Sofija Zivaljevic are outscoring opponents 27-17, while the lineup of Rylee Nudell, Gaislerova, Tyrah Spencer, Marina Fernandez and Zivaljevic hold a 21-11 advantage on opponents in 9:00 of play together. 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.

Perfect at Home in January
   For the second-straight year, the Bison finished a month with a perfect home record at the Scheels Center. This year, the Bison were 2-0 in games played at home in January. North Dakota State earned wins over Western Illinois (68-60) on Jan. 11 and North Dakota (69-57) on Jan. 20. The Bison were scheduled to play Waldorf University on Jan. 30, but weather and travel conditions forced that game to be canceled. The Bison were also perfect in November of 2017, finishing that month with a 4-0 record at home to start the season.

The Rare Cancelation
   With the game against Waldorf University canceled due to weather and travel conditions, it marked the third time since NDSU moved to NCAA Division I that a game had been canceled. The previous two times were against Jamestown in December 2008 and Dakota State in December 2010.

Making Them When They Matter
   The Bison are shooting 66 percent (194-of-294) at the free throw line this year, but they are hitting them when it matters. NDSU is 47-of-62 (75.8%) at the charity stripe in the final three minutes of games this season. Sofija Zivaljevic and Michelle Gaislerova have each been to the line 13 times in the final three minutes, with Zivaljevic hitting 12 (92.3%) and Gaislerova hitting 10 (76.9%).

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 Western Illinois
   The North Dakota State women's basketball team scored the final eight points of the game, 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.

Down the Stretch
   The highest scoring quarter so far this year for the Bison has been the fourth quarter, where NDSU has put up 305 points. The Bison are averaging 15.3 points in the fourth quarter, while shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 29.5 percent from 3-point range. Michelle Gaislerova is averaging 4.1 points in the final frame, while Sofija Zivaljevic is averaging 37. Rylee Nudell is shooting 59.5 percent (22-of-37) from the field, while Gaislerova is 11-of-32 (34.4%) from 3-point range.

Last Five Games
   In the last five games, Michelle Gaislerova is averaging 16.4 points per game, while Rylee Nudell is averaging 8.0 points per game. Emily Dietz leads the Bison with 5.4 rebounds per game in the stretch, while Danneka Voegeli is pulling down 4.0 rebounds per game. Gaislerova is 18-of-34 (52.9%) from 3-point range, while Nudell is 6-of-14 (42.9%) from downtown.

On the Horizon
   The Bison finish the four game road trip with a game at North Dakota on Thursday, Feb. 7. North Dakota State returns home on Saturday, Feb. 9 for a game against Denver.