Bison Return Home Against Western Illinois and St. Thomas

THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (9-14, 5-8 Summit) women's basketball team is back at Scheels Center this week hosting Western Illinois (12-10, 3-8 Summit) on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. The Bison will close the homestand against St. Thomas (6-15, 3-8 Summit) on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m.

GAME COVERAGE
Radio: Keith Brake (play-by-play) and Katie Johnson (analyst) will be on the call for both games. The contest against Western Illinois will be on The City 94.5 FM, while the game against St. Thomas will be on Bison 1660.

Watch: Both contests will be available on WDAY Xtra. Dom Izzo (play-by-play), Amy Ruley (analyst) and Logan Campbell (sideline) will be on the call. The game will also be available on ESPN+ for subscribers.

GoBison.com: Live statistics, audio and video links are available on GoBison.com.

BISON QUICK HITS

NDSU enters the week with a 9-14 (5-8 Summit) overall record and most recently fell short at Denver, 62-48. Heaven Hamling paced the Bison with a team-high 14 points.
Western Illinois begins the week with a 12-10 (3-8 Summit) overall record and has dropped its last three contests. The Leathernecks are 4-5 on the road this season.
St. Thomas enters the week with a 6-15 (3-8 Summit) overall record and has lost its last seven games. The Tommies are 3-6 on the road this season.
Heaven Hamling (13.7) and Ryan Cobbins (11.4) are both averaging double digits in scoring.
Heaven Hamling has reached double figures in scoring in each of her last five games.

LAST TIME OUT
NDSU was able to cut the deficit down to five in the third quarter, but couldn't pull off the comeback falling short at Denver, 62-48, on Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Gymnasium.

Heaven Hamling paced the Bison reaching double digits in scoring for the fifth straight game with a team-high 14 points. She also hauled in a team-best six rebounds over 37 minutes of action. Abby Schulte added in 12 points, while Ryan Cobbins poured in 11 of her own.

800 POINTS & COUNTING
Ryan Cobbins has totaled 262 points this season and has surpassed the 800 career points mark with 807. She has hit double digits in scoring in each of her last two games and 15 times overall this season.

Hamling over the last five games
Heaven Hamling has reached double digits in scoring in each of the last five games. Over that span, she is averaging 14.8 points per game and is shooting 46.8 percent (22-47) from the field and 48.4 percent (15-17) from three.

HEAVY WORKLOAD
Heaven Hamling is currently averaging a career-high 33.8 minutes per game. She is slotted third in the Summit League and 30th in the nation in minutes played having logged 776:02 this season.

ONE OF THE BEST FROM THREE
Heaven Hamling enters the week positioned inside the top five in the Summit League in three-point field-goal percentage (2nd, 41.4), three-point field goals made (2nd, 55), three-point field goals per game (2nd, 2.39) and three-point field goals attempted (5th, 133).

Hamling is also slotted 30th in the nation in three-point field goals made (55) and 36th in three-point field goal percentage (41.4).

HAMLING CLIMBS THE RANKS
Heaven Hamling has surpassed 100 career three-pointers with 112. She currently ranks 13th on the Bison all-time three-point field goals made list and is 1-of-15 players in program history to register 100 or more triples.

SCOUTING WESTERN ILLINOIS
Western Illinois has dropped its last three contests and most recently fell short against Kansas City in overtime, 87-75. Jada Thorpe paced the Leathernecks with a team-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from three.

Western Illinois leads the Summit League in points per game (74.0), three-point field goals made (197) and three-point field goals per game (9.0).

THE SERIES VS. WESTERN ILLINOIS
This will be the 31st all-time meeting in a series that dates back to 2008 with Western Illinois leading, 18-12. In their most recent encounter earlier this season on Jan. 15, the Bison edged the Leathernecks, 63-55, behind a season-high 25 points and career-best nine rebounds from Heaven Hamling.

SCOUTING ST. THOMAS
St. Thomas has lost its last seven games and most recently dropped a 73-67 decision against Oral Roberts. Jade Hill notched a career-high 27 points, while Jo Langbehn tallied her second career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

THE SERIES VS. ST. THOMAS
This will be only the third all-time meeting between NDSU and St. Thomas with the series locked, 1-1. Earlier this season on Jan. 13, St. Thomas edged NDSU, 73-62, at Schoenecker Arena. Heaven Hamling (16), Olivia Skibiel (15), Emily Dietz (12) and Abby Schulte (11) all reached double digits in the scoring column for the Bison.

UP NEXT
NDSU will be back on the road at Oral Roberts (12-11, 7-5 Summit) on Saturday, Feb. 17. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.

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