Second-Seeded NDSU Prepared for Summit League Tournament

Saturday, March 4

Sioux Falls, S.D.

3:00 PM

North Dakota State Athletics

Kansas City

Photo by: Zachary Lucy

Second-Seeded NDSU Prepared for Summit League Tournament

3/3/2023 8:50:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Listen Tournament Central NDSU Notes

THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (18-10, 12-6 Summit) women's basketball team earned the second seed in the Summit League Tournament and is set to face the winner of seventh-seeded Denver (12-7, 8-10 Summit) and 10th-seeded Kansas City (7-22, 3-15 Summit) on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.

GAME COVERAGE
Radio: Andy Rieckhoff (play-by-play) will be on the call for both games on Bison 1660.

Watch: The quarterfinals and semifinal rounds will be available on Midco Sports, Midco Sports Plus and ESPN+ for subscribers.

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

BISON QUICK HITS

NDSU enters the week on a four-game win streak and finished the regular season with an 18-10 (12-6 Summit) overall record to earn the second seed for the first time since joining the Summit League in 2007-08.
Heaven Hamling was named to the All-Summit League First Team.
Elle Evans was named the Summit League Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team, All-Newcomer Team and picked up Honorable Mention All-Summit League honors.
NDSU is 3-13 all-time in the Summit League Tournament, including a 3-10 mark in the quarterfinal round.
The Bison fell short against Kansas City last season in the Summit League quarterfinal round, 81-74. Abby Schulte paced NDSU with a team-best and career-high 21 points.
NDSU is 1-0 in neutral site games this season after edging Boise State in Reno, Nev., at the Nugget Classic.
Heaven Hamling currently ranks third on the NDSU all-time three-point field goals list with 195.
Elle Evans has hit double figures in scoring in 24 of 28 games, including each of the last 12 games. She's averaging 13.3 points per game, which ranks tied for ninth in the Summit League.
Heaven Hamling has netted 20 or more points in three of the last four games and finished the regular season positioned fourth in the Summit League averaging a career-best 16.5 points per game.

LAST TIME OUT
Heaven Hamling notched a game-high 31 points to help lift NDSU past Western Illinois, 82-74. Taylor Brown notched her second double-double of the season with a career-high 11 rebounds to go along with 12 points. Elle Evans reached double figures in scoring for the 12th straight game with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. Abby Schulte also passed out a game-high five assists with seven points and four rebounds.

STACKIN' WINS
NDSU finished the regular season with four straight wins and an 18-10 (12-6 Summit) overall record. It marks the most wins under head coach Jory Collins and the most in a single-season since 2004-05 when the Bison posted a 26-1 overall record. Additionally, NDSU totaled 12 Summit League wins for the first time since 2008-09.

HAMLING AND EVANS EARN ALL-LEAGUE HONORS
Heaven Hamling was named to the All-Summit League First Team, while Elle Evans was tabbed the Freshman of the Year to go along with earning a spot on the All-Defensive Team, All-Newcomer Team and picking up Honorable Mention All-Summit League honors.

Evans became the first player in program history to be named the Summit League Freshman of the Year and is also the first Bison player to earn Summit League All-Defensive Team honors in program history. Additionally, she was the only freshman to earn All-Defensive Team accolades this season. Hamling became the first NDSU player to earn All-Summit League First Team honors since 2016.

COMFORTABLE BEHIND THE ARC
The Bison have drained 181 three-pointers this season, which ranks tied for sixth all-time in a single-season in NDSU history. NDSU has totaled 10 or more triples in four games this season.

TOUGH DEFENSE
NDSU is limiting opponents to 68.7 points per game this season, which ranks fourth in the Summit League. The Bison have held 10 opponents to 65 points or less, including a season-low 43 points against Denver.

HIGH SCORING HOME FINALE
NDSU netted a season-high 103 points in the 103-86 win over Oral Roberts, which was the most points in a single-game since it scored 105 against NJIT in 2017. The Bison shot 62.7 percent from the field and 52.4 percent from three.

BALL MOVEMENT
The Bison have been moving the ball around the floor averaging 14.1 assists per game this season, which ranks fourth in the Summit League. Heaven Hamling has handed out a team-best and career-high 104 assists, which is the most by a Bison player since 2018. Abby Schulte is also nearing the 100-assist mark and has distributed a career-high 91 this season.

HEAVEN DOING HEAVEN THINGS
Heaven Hamling has established herself as one of the best three-point shooters in the Summit League and currently ranks in the top five in three-pointers per game (2nd, 2.54), three-pointers (2nd, 71) and three-point percentage (3rd, 35.0). Her career-high 71 three-pointers currently rank fifth on the NDSU all-time single season list.

Hamling is averaging a team-best and career-high 16.5 points per game this season, which ranks fourth in the Summit League. She's also positioned fourth in the conference in free throw percentage shooting 84.9 percent. Defensively, Hamling has been disrupting opposing offenses with a career-high 61 steals, which ranks second in the Summit League. She is also positioned second in the conference in steals per game with 2.18.

NOT PLAYING LIKE A FRESHMAN
Elle Evans is off to a fast start in her freshman season starting 27 of 28 games and is averaging 13.3 points per game. In Summit League play this season, Evans led all freshman and ranked 11th overall averaging 13.8 points per game. She also paced all freshman and ranked second in the Summit League in blocks with 32.

Evans has reached the 20-point scoring plateau twice this season, including a career-high 23 points in the win over Kansas City. The Edwardsville, Ill., native has reached double digits in scoring 24 of 28 games, including 12 straight to close the regular season.

Evans has also been a force on the defensive side of the court with 42 total blocks, which ranks second in the Summit League and leads all freshmen. She totaled a season-high five blocks in the win over Oral Roberts and it marked the most blocks by a Bison player in a single-game since 2018.

HEAVY WORKLOAD
Heaven Hamling and Elle Evans are both averaging over 30 minutes per game. Evans is averaging 31.9 minutes, while Hamling is logging a team-high 33.1 minutes per game. Over three seasons at NDSU, Hamling is averaging 32.7 minutes per contest, which ranks fourth all-time in Bison history.

BEHNKE SURGING
After not starting a game in each of her first three seasons at NDSU, Emily Behnke has started 26 games this season and has hauled in a team-high and career-best 181 rebounds. The Two Rivers, Wis., native has also notched a career-high 26 blocks this season, which ranks seventh in the Summit League.

BROWN FITS RIGHT IN
In her first season at NDSU, Taylor Brown has fit right in starting all 28 games. The Lakeville, Minn., native is averaging 9.7 points per game and has reached double digits in scoring in 12 games, including each of the last three games. She wrapped up regular season play with her second double-double with a career-high 11 rebounds and 12 points.

CONTRIBUTING OFF THE BENCH
Abbie Draper and Abby Graham have both come off the bench in all 28 games this season. Graham is averaging 6.2 points per game and notched a season-high 22 points in the win over Denver, while Draper has contributed 4.7 points with 2.3 rebounds per game. Kristina Ekofo Yomane has also appeared in 27 games with two starts this season and posted a season-high 10 points with six rebounds at Denver.

CSC ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM
Heaven Hamling, Taylor Brown, Abby Schulte and Emily Behnke were selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team this week. All four boasted at least a 3.5 grade point average.

250 CAREER WINS
Following the victory over South Dakota on Feb. 2, head coach Jory Collins earned his 250th career win. He has currently amassed a 254-114 overall record spanning 12 seasons. He notched a 199-58 mark during eight seasons at Emporia State. Collins has posted a 55-56 mark at NDSU over his first four seasons and earned his 50th win at Kansas City. His 55 wins at NDSU rank third all-time in Bison history behind Amy Ruley (671 wins) and Carolyn DeHoff (72 wins).

1,000 CAREER POINTS FOR NO. 11
Heaven Hamling has surpassed the 1,000 career points milestone with 1,360. She started her career at Stephen F. Austin State for one season in 2018-19 and netted 174 points. Hamling has totaled 1,186 points over the last three seasons at NDSU.

HAMLING CHASES HISTORY
Heaven Hamling enters the 2022-23 season with the opportunity to leave her name in NDSU history. She's positioned inside the top 10 in Bison history in scoring average (6th, 14.6), three-point field goals made (3rd, 195), three-point field goal percentage (3rd, .382), free throw percentage (3rd, .866), defensive rebounding average (7th, 3.8) and minutes average (4th, 32.7).

WHO'S BACK THIS YEAR?
The Bison return six letterwinnners from last season, including three starters: Heaven Hamling, Abby Schulte and Katie Hildebrandt.

NDSU GRAD
Heaven Hamling graduated in December with her degree in construction management and a minor in business administration. She will begin graduate school starting in January.

WELCOME TO THE SQUAD
The roster features eight newcomers this season: Taylor Brown, Kristina Ekofo Yomane, Abbie Draper, Elle Evans, Marwa Bedziri, Abby Graham, Leah Mackenzie and Georgia Baldwin.

NEW, BUT PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE
Three of the eight newcomers on the roster this season have played at least 10 NCAA games in their careers. Taylor Brown appeared in 95 games over four seasons at American and Abbie Draper played in 26 games with 15 starts during her freshman season at Bradley last year. Georgia Baldwin also appeared in 11 games at Eastern Kentucky over the last two seasons.

NEW LOOK COACHING STAFF
The NDSU coaching staff has a new look this season with addition of assistant coaches Jaime Adams and Michaela Crall. Adams is back for her second stint with the program after spending four seasons from 2008-12 as an assistant coach. She also played at NDSU from 1997-01 and was inducted to the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.

Crall comes to NDSU after spending last season at Dubuque as an assistant coach. She also played for Wisconsin for three seasons from 2013-16 before starting her career in coaching as an undergraduate coach. Emily Dietz, who played at NDSU from 2017-22 and is the all-time leader games played, returns as a graduate manager this season.

STARTING A NEW 3-POINT STREAK
NDSU shot 1-of-9 from three at Kansas State last season, which ended a streak of 56 straight games that the Bison have netted at least two triples. The Bison have bounced back and have connected at least two triples in each of their last 50 games.

NDSU has a recent history of assembling lengthy three-point streaks. The Bison went 0-of-14 from three-point range against Valparaiso in 2019-20, ending a streak of 113 straight games with at least two 3-pointers.

THIS IS OUR HOUSE
NDSU is 472-142 all-time at home dating back to 1977-78. NDSU finished the season with an 11-1 mark at Scheels Center this season after starting the season 9-0. It marks the most home wins since 2009-10.

PRESEASON ALL-SUMMIT LEAGUE FIRST TEAM
Heaven Hamling was selected to the Preseason All-Summit League First Team. She started all 29 games last season and logged a team-high 34.4 minutes per contest. Hamling ranked ninth in the Summit League with a team-best 14.3 points per game and reached double digits in scoring in 24 of 29 games. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native led the conference in three-point field goals per game with 2.31 and three-point field goal percentage shooting 39.0 percent.

SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
NDSU was picked to finish fifth in the Summit League Preseason Poll. South Dakota State garnered 36 first place votes to take the top spot, while South Dakota picked up four first place votes in second place. Oral Roberts closed out the top three in third place.

BISON IN GREECE
Over the span of eight days, the Bison had the opportunity to practice, play two games and learn about the culture in Greece during a trip in August. NDSU spent the first four days in Athens before concluding the trip in Glyfada.

THE SERIES VS. KANSAS CITY
NDSU swept the regular season series against Kansas City and picked up a 86-75 win back on Feb. 16. in their most recent matchup. This would be the 22nd all-time meeting between NDSU and Kansas City dating back to 2008 with the Roos leading the series, 11-10.

THE SERIES VS. DENVER
NDSU and Denver split the regular season series after the Bison fell short on the road against the Pioneers, 83-71, on Feb.11. This would mark the 29th all-time meeting between Denver and NDSU dating back to 1987 with the Bison leading the series, 15-13.