THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (6-3) women’s basketball team continues its road swing at Green Bay (4-3, 1-1 Horizon) on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Kress Center.
GAME COVERAGE
Radio: Andy Rieckhoff (play-by-play) will be on the call on Bison 1660.
Watch: The contest will be available on ESPN+ for subscribers.
GoBison.com: Live statistics, audio and video links are available on GoBison.com.
BISON QUICK HITS
- The Bison have dropped their last three games and enter the weekend with a 6-3 overall record.
- NDSU is coming off a 79-70 loss at Northern Iowa on Tuesday night.
- This will be the sixth straight road game for the Bison and third week in a row on the road. NDSU is 2-3 in road games this season.
- Green Bay begins the weekend with a 4-3 (1-1 Horizon) overall record and most recently edged IUPUI, 81-76.
- The Phoenix have only played one home game this season and have played each of their last five away from home.
- For the second straight week, NDSU appeared in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll at No. 23.
- This will be the ninth all-time meeting between NDSU and Green Bay dating back to 2006. The Phoenix hold the edge in the series, 6-2.
- Elle Evans has reached double figures in scoring in each of her last six games, including a season-high 17 points at Central Michigan.
- Emily Behnke has notched a double-double in each of the last two games.
- Heaven Hamling has drained a team-high 21 three-pointers through the first eight games this season. She has totaled 145 triples over three seasons and is tied for fifth place with Katie Lorenz in Bison history.
LAST TIME OUT
NDSU fell short at Northern Iowa, 79-70, on Tuesday night. Emily Behnke paced the Bison producing her second straight double-double with a career-high 16 points and 10 rebounds. Heaven Hamling added 14 points and went 6-of-6 from the free throw line, while Abby Schulte netted 11 points. Elle Evans also reached double figures in scoring for the sixth straight game with 12 points and a season-high eight rebounds.
COLLEGE INSIDER MID-MAJOR TOP 25 POLL
For the second straight week, NDSU appeared in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll coming in at No. 23. This season marks the first time the Bison have been ranked in the poll since 2020-21. Green Bay is also receiving votes in this week’s poll.
STACKIN’ WINS
The Bison started the season with a 6-0 overall record before falling short at Eastern Michigan. It marked the best start to a season since 2004-05. NDSU began the 2004-05 season winning its first 24 games and finished with a 26-1 overall record.
LIFE ON THE ROAD
NDSU is in the middle of a seven-game road swing covering four total weeks. Over that span, the Bison will travel over 3,400 miles and visit four different states (Nevada, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin). It marks the longest road stretch for NDSU since the 2011-12 season when the Bison also played seven straight away from home.
CONNECTIONS
Emily Behnke is a native of Two Rivers, Wis., and attended Manitowoc Lutheran High School. She earned Honorable Mention All-State honors in her junior and senior seasons. Katie Hildebrandt is also a native of McFarland, Wis., and attended McFarland High School. She was a three-time All-Conference selection and earned First Team honors her junior season.
Abbie Draper and Green Bay guard Tatum Koenig were teammates for one season together at Bradley in 2021-22.
BATTLING FOR REBOUNDS
NDSU hauled in a season-high 48 rebounds at Northern Iowa with eight different players collecting at least two. The Bison have grabbed 40 or more rebounds in five of the first nine games this season.
TOUGH DEFENSE
NDSU is averaging 4.7 blocks per game, which ranks third in the Summit League and 39th in the nation. The Bison notched a season-high eight blocks against Valley City State and Eastern Michigan this season.
HISTORIC PERFORMANCE
Heaven Hamling posted a career-high 39 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field and 7-of-12 shooting from three in the win over Nevada. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native also went 10-of-10 from the free throw line and added six rebounds, three steals and one assist to her stat line.
Her 39 points rank as the third-most all-time in a single-game at NDSU and marked her second career 30-point performance. Hamling is one of only five players in the country to post 39 or more points in a single-game this season. Additionally, her seven triples against the Wolf Pack rank as tied for the ninth-most in a single-game in the nation this season.
1,000 CAREER POINTS FOR NO. 11
Heaven Hamling has surpassed the 1,000 career points milestone with 1,045. She started her career at Stephen F. Austin State for one season in 2018-19 and netted 174 points. Hamling has totaled 871 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, 14.0), three-point field goals made (T5th, 145), three-point field goal percentage (3rd, .395) and free throw percentage (2nd, .889).
NOT PLAYING LIKE A FRESHMAN
Elle Evans is off to a fast start in her freshman season starting all nine games and is averaging 12.4 points per game. She has hit double figures in scoring in each of her last six games, including a season-high 17 points at Central Michigan. Over that span, she’s averaging 13.5 points per game.
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DOUBLE-DOUBLE
After not recording a double-double in her first two seasons, Emily Behnke has notched a double-double in each of the last two games. She netted career-high 16 points with 10 rebounds at Northern Iowa. Behnke tallied her first career double-double at Central Michigan with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
BROWN FITS RIGHT IN
In her first season at NDSU, Taylor Brown has fit right in starting each of the first nine games. The Lakeville, Minn., native is averaging 9.4 points per game and has reached double digits in scoring in three games. Brown notched her first double-double of the season with a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Minnesota.
CONTRIBUTING OFF THE BENCH
Abbie Draper and Abby Graham have both come off the bench in all nine games this season. Draper is averaging 5.7 points per game and has reached double digits in scoring twice. Graham has added 5.0 points per game and netted a season-high 11 points in the win over Minnesota.
WHO’S BACK THIS YEAR?
The Bison return six letterwinnners from last season, including three starters: Heaven Hamling, Abby Schulte and Katie Hildebrandt.
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 31 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.
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. GREEN BAY
This will be the ninth all-time meeting between NDSU and Green Bay dating back to 2006 with the Phoenix leading the series, 6-2. This will also be the third straight season NDSU will face Green Bay in non-conference play. In their most recent meeting last season, the Bison fell short against the Phoenix on the road, 71-54. Heaven Hamling registered a team-high 20 points, while Abby Schulte came off the bench and added six points.
LOOKING AHEAD
NDSU will finish non-conference play at Mayville State on Wednesday, Dec. 14. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m.
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