FARGO, N.D. – Four Bison reached double digits in scoring as the North Dakota State women’s basketball team upended Minnesota, 71-65, to stay unbeaten on Thursday night at Scheels Center.
With the win, the Bison improve to 3-0 overall on the season. It also marked the first win over a power five opponent since NDSU knocked off Kansas, 72-69, in 2020.
Taylor Brown led the way for the Bison notching her second career double-double with a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds. Emily Behnke poured in a career-high 14 points with eight rebounds, while Abby Schulte added a season-best 13 points with five assists and five rebounds. Abby Graham rounded out the top performers with a season-high 11 points.
As a team, the Bison shot 44.4 percent (28-63) from the field and 64.3 percent from the free throw line. NDSU also netted 34 points in the paint and 18 points off of turnovers.
Both teams traded points throughout the first half until NDSU was able to put together a momentum-shifting 7-0 run to close the second quarter capped off by a fast break layup from Graham to beat the Buzzer to give NDSU a one-point edge at the break, 28-27.
The Bison came out of the intermission and pushed their lead up to four, 37-33, following a layup from Schulte at the 5:37 mark. NDSU led after three quarters of play, 46-43. The Bison then began to pull away building their largest lead, 58-50, after Brown knocked down a triple with 5:49 to play.
The Gophers (2-1) made one final surge trimming the edge down to one, 62-61, at the 3:21 mark. Heaven Hamling then answered for the Bison knocking down a three-pointer and a jumper to stretch the lead back up to six, 67-61, with 1:08 to play. NDSU went on to hold off Minnesota the rest way to earn the 71-65 win.
NDSU will wrap up its homestand hosting Northern Colorado on Tuesday night. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. at Scheels Center.
Comments