RENO, Nev. – The North Dakota State women’s basketball team topped Boise State, 68-53, at the Nugget Classic at Lawlor Events Center on Friday night.
With the win, the Bison improve to 5-0 on the season for the first time since 2004.
Heaven Hamling paced NDSU with a game-high and season-best 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field. She also added four rebounds, three assists and three steals to her stat line. Elle Evans poured in a season-high 13 points with four rebounds and three steals. Abby Schulte also hit double digits in scoring for the third straight game with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field.
As a team, NDSU shot 44.4 percent (28-63) from the field and 55.6 percent (5-9) from beyond the arc. The Bison also notched 42 points in the paint and 30 points off of turnovers.
NDSU got off to fast start building a 15-7 advantage after a layup from Schulte at the 3:30 mark of the first quarter. The Bison then pushed their lead into double digits, 21-11, in the second frame following a jumper from Abby Graham with 8:21 to play in the half. NDSU led the at intermission, 27-22.
The Broncos (3-3) began the third quarter trimming the edge down to three, 27-24, after a quick layup. The Bison responded to quickly increase their lead up to 10, 38-28, following a pair of free throws from Evans. NDSU then began to put the game away growing its largest lead, 62-42, after Taylor Brown drilled a triple with 4:12 to play. The Bison closed out the remaining time to earn the 68-53 win.
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