Bison Women Hit the Road for Final Two Regular Season Games

Thursday, February 28

Vermillion, S.D.

5:30 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

South Dakota

2018-19 Women's Basketball Starters Huddle Stetson

Photo by: Ryan Workman

Bison Women Hit the Road for Final Two Regular Season Games

2/27/2019 9:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball

North Dakota State at South Dakota
Thursday, Feb. 28 | 5:30 p.m. (Central) | Vermillion, S.D. (Sanford Coyote Sports Center)
Radio: Bison 1660 / 92.7 FM
TV: MidcoSN / ESPN+
Live Stats: GoYotes.com

North Dakota State at Purdue Fort Wayne
Saturday, March 2 | 1 p.m. (Central) | Fort Wayne, Ind. (Gates Sports Center)
Radio: Bison 1660 / 92.7 FM
TV: GoMastodons.com
Live Stats: GoMastodons.com

Full NDSU Game Notes (PDF)

NDSU WBB on Twitter: @NDSUwbb

Scene Setter
   The North Dakota State (7-19, 4-10 Summit) women's basketball team hits the road for the final two regular season games of the year at South Dakota (24-4, 12-2 Summit) and at Purdue Fort Wayne (6-20, 2-12 Summit).

South Dakota Series History
   The Bison own a 42-29 lead in the all-time series. South Dakota has won the last four meetings, including a 67-41 victory over the Bison in Fargo on December 30 in the second Summit League game of the season. The last NDSU victory in Vermillion came on Feb. 2, 2013, a 57-50 Bison win.

Purdue Fort Wayne Series History
   North Dakota State leads the all-time series 18-9. The Bison have won three-straight in the series, including a 70-54 win in Fargo on Jan. 28 in the Summit League opener. NDSU won in Fort Wayne 66-52 last season on Feb. 15.

Bison Notes

NDSU scored 29 points in the fourth quarter on Saturday, rallying for a 55-48 victory over Omaha. The Bison scored 26 points in the first 30 minutes of the game before going off in the fourth quarter.
Junior Rylee Nudell (11) and sophomore Sofija Zivaljevic (10) scored 21 of North Dakota State's 29 points in the fourth quarter against Omaha.
Sophomore Michelle Gaislerova moved into fourth in school history with her 66th 3-pointer of the season against Omaha.
Gaislerova led the Bison with 16 points in an 88-48 loss against South Dakota State. It was the 20th time this year Gaislerova has hit double figures in a game.
Zivaljevic tied a career-high with 16 points in a 65-54 loss to Oral Roberts.
Emily Dietz scored a career-high 26 points against Denver, as the Pioneers beat NDSU 87-67. Denver held a 29-13 advantage in the second quarter.
Dietz led the Bison in scoring against North Dakota, as her 13 points gave her double digit scoring numbers for the 10th time this season.
North Dakota State was a perfect 12-of-12 at the free throw line against Western Illinois. It was the most made free throws without a miss in school history and the second time the Bison have been perfect at the line with over 10 attempts in the game in school history.
Gaislerova scored 21 points at Western Illinois, marking the fifth time this season that Gaislerova has scored 20 or more points. She surpassed 600 points for her career against Western Illinois.
Senior Marina Fernandez notched her first career double-double at Western Illinois, pulling down a career-high 11 rebounds to go with her 13 points.
The Bison were scheduled to play Waldorf University in the final non-conference game of the year, 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. 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.
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.
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.
Dietz, a West Fargo native, 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 South Dakota

The Coyotes were ranked in last week's Associated Press Top 25 Poll, but dropped out after falling at South Dakota State on Sunday. South Dakota is currently ranked 25th in the USA Today Top 25 Poll.
South Dakota boasts the league's top defense. Earlier this year, they held five-straight opponents to 50 points or less.
Senior guard Allison Arens is one of four players in program history to tally 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists in her career. She ranks ninth on South Dakota's all-time scoring list with 1,314 points.
Junior guard Ciara Duffy is averaging 17 points in Summit League play to pace the Yotes.
South Dakota features a pair of players that were named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team in Arens and Duffy. The pair, along with NDSU's Michelle Gaislerova, make up half the selections on the team for the sixth district.

Scouting Purdue Fort Wayne

The Mastodons are 6-20 overall and 2-12 in Summit League play entering Thursday's game against North Dakota.
A lot is on the line for the Mastodons in the final two games. Purdue Fort Wayne and Omaha are tied for the final spot in the Summit League Tournament with a 2-12 record, while the two teams are two games behind NDSU. The Bison need a win in one of their final two games to guarantee a spot in the tournament. Purdue Fort Wayne and Omaha split the season series, as did NDSU and Omaha.
The Mastodons have lost six-straight games since a 70-55 win over Denver. The victory came after a 56-48 win over Omaha for the two Summit League wins for Purdue Fort Wayne this season on Jan. 24 and 26.
De'Jour Young leads the Mastodons in scoring with 12.5 points per game. She is the only player in double figures for Purdue Fort Wayne, while Kierstyn Repp is second in scoring at 9.7 points per game.

Last Time Out
   The North Dakota State (7-19, 4-10 Summit) women's basketball team scored a season-high 29 points in the fourth quarter Saturday, as the Bison beat Omaha (8-19, 2-12 Summit) 55-48 at the Scheels Center.
   After a 3-pointer by Rylee Nudell to start the game, not much went the way of the Bison in the first three quarters. NDSU tallied just 26 points in the first 30 minutes before the fourth quarter explosion. Omaha entered the game ranked third in the Summit League in scoring defense. Following the Nudell trey, the Mavs scored 10-straight points to take a 10-3 lead with 7:01 left in the first quarter. A layup by Danneka Voegeli with :46 left in the first half cut the Omaha lead to 23-22 at the half.
   Omaha opened the third quarter on an 11-2 run, pushing the lead to 34-24 with 1:59 to play in the frame. A jumper by Sofija Zivaljevic with 1:37 to play in the third quarter cut the lead to 34-26 going into the final 10 minutes. That's when the Bison turned it on.
   NDSU opened the fourth quarter on a 10-3 run, cutting the lead to 37-36 on a pair of Emily Dietz free throws with 7:22 to play. In a matter of 1:14, the Mavs scored seven-straight points to take a 44-36 lead with 5:45 to play. This time the Bison had a big run that Omaha couldn't answer. A free throw by Dietz, followed by seven-straight points from Zivaljevic, sparked a 13-0 run. A long ball by Nudell with 2:50 to play gave NDSU a 49-44 lead. A layup by Claire Killian with 1:54 left cut the lead to three, but NDSU hit six free throws down the stretch to seal the 55-48 victory. Nudell (11) and Zivaljevic (10) combined for 21 of NDSU's 29 fourth quarter points.
   Nudell finished with a game-high 16 points, while Zivaljevic and Dietz joined her in double figures with 13 and 11 points respectively. Kalen Phillips led the Mavs with 11 points off the bench. Marina Fernandez led the Bison with seven rebounds, while Nudell and Zivaljevic each had six, a career-high for Zivaljevic. Tyrah Spencer and Dietz each had three assists, tying a career-high for Dietz. Voegeli tied a career-high with two steals, while Dietz blocked a career-high three shots. Before the game, the Bison honored their three seniors in Spencer, Fernandez and Hanna Norman, as they played their final game at the Scheels Center.
   NDSU was 15-of-45 (33.3%) from the field and 4-of-16 from 3-point range. The Mavs were 18-of-61 (29.5%) from the floor and 3-of-16 (18.8%) from downtown. Omaha was 9-of-15 (60%) at the free throw line, while NDSU was 21-of-27 (77.8%) at the charity stripe. The Mavs held advantages in points in the paint (28-16), points off turnovers (17-5) and second chance points (7-2).

Gaislerova Named to Google Cloud Academic All-District First Team
   Michelle Gaislerova has been named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Women's Basketball First Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
   Gaislerova has a 4.0 GPA and majors in Journalism. The award recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The Google Cloud Academic All-America® program separately recognizes basketball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA. First-team Academic All-District® honorees advance to the Google Cloud Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second- and third-team (if applicable) Academic All-America® honorees will be announced in mid-March.
    The Google Cloud Academic All-District® teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. North Dakota State is in district six, which includes schools from Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Gaislerova was one of three selections from the Summit League, joining South Dakota's Allison Arens and Ciara Duffy.

108 and Counting
   North Dakota State has made at least two 3-pointers in 108-straight games dating back to a loss against Delaware on Nov. 29, 2015. The Bison are averaging 5.7 3-pointers per game this year and have hit at least seven in 11 games.

Mixing It Up
   The Bison have eight players that have played at least 333 minutes this year, with four of them having played at least 726 minutes. NDSU has used 25 different lineups for at least 10 minutes. Two Bison lineups have outscored their opponents by 15 points this year, as Michelle Gaislerova, Tyrah Spencer, Danneka Voegeli, Cirkeline Rimdal and Sofija Zivaljevic have outscored opponents 37-22 in 21:38 of action, while Rylee Nudell, Gaislerova, Tyrah Spencer, Marina Fernandez and Zivaljevic have outscored opponents 35-20 in 12:39 on the floor 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 69.2 percent (278-of-402) at the free throw line this year, but they are hitting them when it matters. NDSU is 64-of-85 (75.3%) at the charity stripe in the final three minutes of games this season. Sofija Zivaljevic has been to the line 20 times in the final three minutes, hitting 18 of them.

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.

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.

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 South Dakota
   An early 7-0 lead wasn't enough for the North Dakota State women's basketball team, as South Dakota beat the Bison 67-41 at the Scheels Center.
   With the Bison leading 7-0 with 6:39 to play in the first quarter, the Coyotes answered with a 15-0 run over the next 5:13 to take the lead for good. The Bison scored the final six points of the first quarter, cutting the South Dakota lead to 15-13 after the first quarter.
   South Dakota scored the first five points of the second quarter en route to an 11-3 run in the opening 4:20 of the quarter to take a 26-16 lead. A layup by Tyrah Spencer cut the lead to 26-18 with 5:23 left in the first half, but the Coyotes went on a 10-2 run in the next 2:26 to put the lead into double digits for the remainder of the game. An and-one from Emily Dietz with :07 left cut the South Dakota lead to 38-25 at the half.
   The Coyotes outscored North Dakota State 19-5 in the third quarter, while using an early 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 35 with 4:11 to play. The Bison scored the final nine points over a 3:04 span.
   Dietz led the Bison with 12 points, while Michelle Gaislerova and Rylee Nudell each had eight points. Hannah Sjerven led the Coyotes with a game-high 15 points. Marina Fernandez, Danneka Voegeli and Dietz each had a team-high five rebounds. Gaislerova, Fernandez and Nudell each had a team-high two assists, while Dietz finished with a career-high two blocked shots.
   NDSU was 14-of-50 (28%) from the field and 3-of-15 (20%) from 3-point range. The Coyotes were 27-of-61 (44.3%) from the floor and 7-of-13 (53.8%) from downtown. The Bison were 10-of-13 (76.9%) at the free throw line, while the Coyotes were 6-of-9 at the charity stripe. The Coyotes had advantages in all the specialty stats including points in the paint (34-20), points off turnovers (19-6), second chance points (12-3), fastbreak points (9-0) and bench points (26-10).

Last Time Against Purdue Fort Wayne
   The North Dakota State women's basketball team closed the first half on a 21-0 run, as the Bison beat Purdue Fort Wayne 70-54 in the Summit League opener for both teams.
   Neither team scored in the first two minutes until Anna Lappenkuper hit a layup for the Mastodons with 7:33 left in the quarter. A 3-pointer by Michelle Gaislerova with 7:18 left in the quarter sparked a 10-0 run that gave NDSU the lead for good. Cirkeline Rimdal hit a jumper in the lane at the buzzer, giving NDSU a 16-9 lead after the first quarter.
   After the Mastodons got buckets from Hannah Hess and Ellie Dykstra in the first 2:42 of the second quarter, it was all Bison. A free throw by Emily Dietz with 6:56 to play in the half started the 21-0 run. The Bison hit just one 3-pointer during the run, while eight of the points came at the free throw line.
   A jumper by Gaislerova with 5:52 left in the third quarter pushed the lead to 28, the largest of the season for the Bison. Purdue Fort Wayne went on a 14-0 run over a 3:48 span from the third to fourth quarters. A layup by Sh'Toya Sanders with 7:41 to play cut the Bison lead to 52-39. NDSU pushed the lead back to 17 with 4:31 to play. The Mastodons cut the lead to 11 on three different occasions in the final two minutes, but couldn't get any closer in the 70-54 Bison victory.
   Sofija Zivaljevic led the Bison with a career-high 16 points. Rylee Nudell added 13 points off the bench, while Tyrah Spencer joined them in double figures with 12 points. De'Jour Young led the Mastodons with a game-high 19 points. Marina Fernandez had a team-high eight rebounds, while Dietz, Nudell and Danneka Voegeli each had five boards. Spencer had a team-high four assists and two blocked shots, while Zivaljevic had a career-high two steals.
   The Bison were 22-of-52 (42.3%) from the floor and 5-of-16 (31.3%) from 3-point range. Purdue Fort Wayne was 22-of-63 (34.9%) from the field and 5-of-14 (35.7%) from downtown. NDSU was 21-of-29 (72.4%) at the free throw line, while Purdue Fort Wayne was 5-of-10 at the charity stripe. The Bison had a 13-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

Down the Stretch
   The highest scoring quarter so far this year for the Bison has been the fourth quarter, where NDSU has put up 427 points. The Bison are averaging 16.4 points in the fourth quarter, while shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 31.7 percent from 3-point range. Michelle Gaislerova is averaging 4.0 points in the fourth quarter, while Sofija Zivaljevic is averaging 3.8. Rylee Nudell is shooting 60.4 percent (29-of-48) from the field, while Gaislerova is 14-of-37 (37.8%) from 3-point range.

Norman Joins the Squad
   Former NDSU Soccer player Hanna Norman has joined the women's basketball team. Norman was a two-time All-Summit League selection on the pitch, earning first team honors this past fall. She was also named to the all-freshman team during her rookie campaign. She appeared in 72 games for the Bison, notching a start in 69 of them including every match the last two years. She scored nine goals and had an assist, finishing with five game-winning goals. Coming out of high school, Norman was a Top Drawer Soccer four-star recruit and ranked No. 21 in the Midwest and was the No. 3-ranked defender in the region. On the basketball court in high school, she was a three-time all-conference selection and scored over 1,000 points in her career at Hastings (Minn.) High School.

Last Five Games
   In the last five games, Emily Dietz is averaging 13.4 points per game. Michelle Gaislerova (11.2) and Sofija Zivaljevic (11.0) join Dietz in double figure average over the last five games. Marina Fernandez is averaging 7.4 rebounds per game in the stretch. Gaislerova is 10-of-28 (35.7%) from 3-point range. Dietz is 24-of-46 (52.2%) from the field in the last five games, while Rylee Nudell is shooting 39.3 percent (11-of-28).

On the Horizon
   The Bison will close the regular season on Saturday, March 2 at Purdue Fort Wayne. The Bison need a win in one of the final two games to clinch a spot in the Summit League Tournament or a loss by either Omaha or Purdue Fort Wayne to assure a spot.