THIS WEEK         
The North Dakota State (25-2, 14-0 Summit) women's basketball team hosts South Dakota State (22-6, 12-2 Summit) on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. The Bison wrap up the regular season against North Dakota (7-21, 3-11 Summit) on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m., inside the Scheels Center at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex.
 
GAME COVERAGE
Watch: The Wednesday night game will be televised statewide on ABC ND and the Saturday game will be available on WDAY Xtra for subscribers. Both games will also be streamed on the Summit League Network with Dom Izzo (play-by-play), Amy Ruley (analyst) and Sam Goetzinger (sideline) on the call.
 
Radio: Andy Rieckhoff (play-by-play) and Emily Dietz (analyst) will be on the call for both games on Bison 1660 with pregame coverage starting 30 minutes prior to tip-off. Fans can also listen to the radio broadcast for free on GoBison.com/allaccess and the NDSU Athletics mobile app.
 
GoBison.com: Live statistics, video and audio links are available on GoBison.com/coverage.
 
BISON BASKETBALL RADIO COACHES SHOW
The Bison Basketball Radio Show with NDSU men's basketball head coach David Richman and women's basketball head coach Jory Collins will broadcast live on Bison 1660 from the Holiday Inn Fargo on Mondays throughout the season from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Fans are invited to attend in-person and submit questions for the show as hosts Sam Neidermann and Andy Rieckhoff break down the week of Bison basketball and preview the upcoming games. The show airs the following dates in March: March 2
 
BISON BASKETBALL TV COACHES SHOW
Join host Sam Neidermann, men's basketball head coach David Richman and women's basketball head coach Jory Collins for highlights, analysis and feature stories throughout the season on The Bison Basketball Show airing at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday nights on WDAY Xtra beginning on Nov. 26.
 
PROMOTIONS
Wednesday night will be a green out with fans encouraged to wear green and Saturday will be a gold rush for senior day with fans encouraged to wear gold. The 2025-26 promotional schedule and details can be found here.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Avery Koenen tied a career-best 30 points with 14 rebounds as NDSU topped South Dakota, 81-68, on the road to clinch at least a share of the Summit League regular season title for the first time in program history.
 
NDSU SCENARIOS TO KNOW
After clinching at least a share of the Summit League regular season title last week, the Bison have the opportunity to claim the outright title with the following scenario:
- Record a win over South Dakota State or North Dakota for the outright title.
- The Bison have already secured the No. 1 seed in the Summit League Tournament for the first time in program history.
 
THE SERIES VS SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
This will be the 106th all-time meeting between NDSU and South Dakota State dating back to 1976 with the Jackrabbits leading the series, 65-40. The Bison edged South Dakota State earlier this season in Brookings, 76-68, to snap a 24-game losing streak. Avery Koenen led the way with 26 points and 13 rebounds. NDSU hasn't swept the regular season series against SDSU since the 2004-05 season.
 
THE SERIES VS. NORTH DAKOTA
This will be the 104th all-time meeting between NDSU and North Dakota dating back to 1967. The Bison lead the all-time series, 53-50, and the Bison are 8-2 over the last 10 meetings, including a 87-51 win in Grand Forks earlier this season. Avery Koenen posted a game-high 29 points with 13 rebounds and career-best four blocks. It marked the largest margin of victory (+36) for the Bison in the series since at least 1977.
 
23 STRAIGHT WINS
The Bison enter the week on a 23-game win streak, which is their longest since 2004-05 when the Bison assembled a 24-game win streak. The 23-game win streak is the second-longest active win streak in the nation behind UConn (45 straight wins). The Bison join UConn and UCLA as the only teams in the country with active win streaks of 20 or more games.
 
EXTRA WIN STREAK NUGGETS
- The 23-game win streak spans 11 states (North Dakota, Florida, Utah, Illinois, California, Oklahoma, Colorado, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska).
- The Bison posted undefeated months of December (6-0) and January (9-0).
- Avery Koenen is averaging a team-high 19.5 points and 11.6 rebounds per game over the span.
- The Bison have never trailed in 12 of the 23 wins.
- NDSU is averaging 83.1 points with a +25.2 scoring margin over the stretch.
 
ANOTHER 20-WIN SEASON
The Bison have reached the 20-win mark for the third straight season with a 25-2 overall record. It marks the first time since 2002-05 that NDSU has assembled three straight 20-win seasons. NDSU has also reached the 25-win mark this season, which is the most in the NDSU Division I era and most since NDSU posted a 26-1 record in 2004-05.
 
12-0 IN SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAY
NDSU is the only unbeaten team in Summit League play and is off to a 14-0 mark for the first time in program history. It marks the third straight season and fourth time overall that NDSU has started league play with at least a 4-0 record.
 
HANDLING BUSINESS ON THE ROAD
The Bison have notched a 12-0 mark in true road games this season. It marks the best start to a road schedule since 1996-97 when NDSU posted a 12-0 record. The 12-game road win streak is the third-longest active streak in the nation. NDSU joins UConn as the only two schools in the country with at least 10 road wins and zero losses.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
The Bison are receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for the third straight week with seven votes and earned two votes in the USA TODAY Sports Top 25 poll. NDSU is currently slotted No. 41 in the NCAA NET rankings, which is the highest in the Summit League.
 
COLLEGE INSIDER MID-MAJOR TOP 25 POLL
For the 11th straight week, the Bison have been ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll. NDSU stayed at No. 1 for the third consecutive week and picked up 29 first-place votes, which is the highest in program history. South Dakota State (No. 6) and South Dakota (No. 22) are the only other Summit League schools in the poll.
 
ROLLED THROUGH NON-CON PLAY
The Bison assembled an 11-2 overall record in non-conference play to start the season, including a 6-0 mark in the month of December. It marked the best start to a season since 2004-05 when NDSU won each of its first 24 games before falling short at TCU on Feb. 22, 2005.
 
OUR STARTING FIVE
The Bison have used the same starting lineup combination of Molly Lenz, Marisa Frost, Avery Koenen, Jocelyn Schiller and Abby Krzewinski for all 27 games. NDSU is 1-of-12 teams in the country that has used the same combination all season so far.
 
WIRE-TO-WIRE WINS
The Bison have notched wire-to-wire wins in 12 of the their 25 wins this season. NDSU hasn't trailed in eight of its 14 Summit League wins this season.
 
HIGH POWERED OFFENSE
NDSU enters the week ranked in the top 20 nationally in both field goal percentage (7th, 49.2) and scoring offense (17th, 81.3). NDSU is 15-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points.
 
WIDE MARGINS
The Bison are slotted eighth in the nation with a +21.9 scoring margin. NDSU has notched nine Summit League wins by at least 20 points. The Bison posted a +55 scoring margin in the win over Omaha on Jan. 10, which was the largest in league play.
 
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
The Bison rank eighth in the nation with 11.6 turnovers per game the season. Jocelyn Schiller leads the Summit League with a 1.79 assist/turnover ratio.
 
LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
The Bison have held seven opponents to under 50 points this season, including limiting Saint Mary's and Bethune-Cookman to a season-low 36 points. It marked the lowest point total NDSU has held an opponent to since Jamestown scored 36 points on Dec. 19, 2021. Kansas City (49), UNI (49), Campbell (49), Denver (44), Omaha (39), Bethune-Cookman (36) and Saint Mary's (36) were all held below 50 points this season.
 
BENCH PRODUCTION
The NDSU bench has netted 20 or more points in 12 games this season. Karrington Asp has come off the bench in all 27 games and has contributed 11.1 points with 5.1 rebounds over 19.6 minutes per game. She also ranks second on the team with 20 total blocks.
 
MID-MAJOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD SEMIFINALIST
Avery Koenen was selected as a semifinalist for the 2026 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award. Koenen is one of 10 semifinalists and the first-ever Bison named to the list. She's also one of two players in the Summit League to earn the recognition, joining Brooklyn Meyer from South Dakota State.
 
THERE'S ONLY ONE AVERY KOENEN
Avery Koenen is currently the only player in the country averaging at least 18.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 65.0 percent or better from the field.
 
KOENEN NATIONAL RANKINGS AND STREAKS
Avery Koenen ranks in the top 15 nationally in field goal percentage (2nd, 65.4), double-doubles (3rd, 18), free throw attempts (5th, 182), defensive rebounds per game (9th, 8.7), rebounds per game (10th, 11.1), free throws (12th, 141) and rebounds (13th, 300)
 
Koenen started the season reaching double digits in scoring in each of the first 22 games this season. After only scoring seven points at Kansas City, it snapped a streak of 29 straight games dating back to last season with double digit scoring. She has also produced multiple double-double streaks this season, including seven straight from Jan. 1 at Oral Roberts to Jan. 24 vs. South Dakota. Koenen put together another stretch of six straight double-double performances from Nov. 29 vs. Bethune-Cookman to Dec. 17 vs. UTRGV.
 
KOENEN MILESTONE WATCH
Avery Koenen surpassed the 1,100 career points mark and has totaled 1,191 points over three seasons. Koenen became the 38th member of the Bison 1,000 career points club earlier this season.
She is also one of only three players in the NDSU Division I era to surpass the 700 career rebounds mark with 736. Koenen also reached the 100 career steals mark with 100.
 
KOENEN IN BISON DIVISION I HISTORY
Avery Koenen has totaled the most free throws  (141) and rebounds (300) in a single-season in the Bison Division I era. She enters the week with 518 total points this season, which ranks third on the Division I single-season points list. Koenen needs 48 points to pass Brooke LeMar (2014-15) for the top spot. Koenen ranks third on the field goals with 187 and is 16 made field goals away from passing LeMar for the most field goals in a single-season with 196.
 
On the Division I career list, Koenen ranks 10th with 1,191 points and is slotted third on the rebounding list with 736. She has also drained 298 free throws, which ranks third behind Abby Plucker (301, 2007-12) and Abby Schulte (309, 2020-25).
 
PEAK PERFORMER OF THE WEEK
Avery Koenen was named the Summit League Peak Performer of the Week for the eighth time this season last week, which is the most in Summit League history in a single-season. She passed Kevi Luper from Oral Roberts in the 2009-10 season. The Montevideo, Minn., native tied a season-high 29 points with a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with a career-high four blocks in the win at North Dakota.
 
COLLINS ON MIDSEASON WATCH LIST FOR MID-MAJOR COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD
Head coach Jory Collins was named to the midseason watch list for the 2026 Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award. Collins is one of only 10 coaches named to the midseason watch list. He's also one of two head coaches in the Summit League on the list, joining Aaron Johnston from South Dakota State.
 
BATTLE TESTED
Following its third straight appearance in the WNIT last season, NDSU has played extended seasons deep into March. The Bison played a combined 33 games last season, tied for the second-longest season in program history. After recording the longest season in program history in 2023-24 with 34 total games, NDSU has combined to play a total of 77 games over the last two seasons. NDSU boasts a 43-24 record over that span.
 
SCHEDULE TIDBITS
The Bison are set to play 29 total regular season games with 13 games inside the Scheels Center at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex. NDSU will play 13 non-conference contests and will face five opponents that participated in a postseason tournament last season, including Northern Iowa, Gonzaga, Nebraska, Campbell and Montana State. NDSU will open the 16-game Summit League schedule at Oral Roberts on Jan. 1.
 
OUR HOUSE
NDSU posted a 13-3 record inside Scheels Center last season. The Bison have won at least 13 home games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since assembling a streak of 11 straight from 1994-05. NDSU is a combined 46-6 over the last four seasons at Scheels Center, including a 13-1 mark in 2023-24.
 
THE HEAD COACH
Head coach Jory Collins is in his seventh season at NDSU and has led the Bison to three straight 20-win seasons. He recently reached the 100-win mark with a 123-84 overall record. His 123 wins are the most in the NDSU Division I era and the second-most in Bison history behind Amy Ruley (671 wins). Collins also reached the 300 career win mark with a 322-142 overall record, which includes eight seasons at Emporia State from 2010-18. Collins is the second-longest tenured coach in the Summit League in his seventh season.
 
Under Collins, the Bison made their first-ever appearance in the Summit League Championship game in 2024 and three straight appearances in WNIT. NDSU has also had at least one All-Summit League First Team and an All-Summit League Freshman Team selection each of the last two seasons.
 
UP NEXT
NDSU will be the top seed at the Summit League Tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D., next week. The full bracket will be announced on Saturday.