South Dakota State at North Dakota State 
Saturday, Feb. 16 | 1 p.m. (Central) | Fargo, N.D. (Scheels Center)
Radio: Bison 1660 / 92.7 FM
TV: MidcoSN2 / ESPN3
Live Stats: BisonStats.com

Full NDSU Game Notes (PDF)

NDSU WBB on Twitter: @NDSUwbb

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Scene Setter
    The North Dakota State (6-18, 3-9 Summit) women's basketball team continues a home stand on Saturday, as the Bison host South Dakota State (19-6, 11-1 Summit).

South Dakota State Series History
      The Jackrabbits own a 50-39 lead in the all-time series that dates to a 77-61 South Dakota State win in Brookings on Dec. 3, 1976. South Dakota State has won nine-straight games in the series, with the last Bison win coming on Jan. 4, 2015, an 83-78 win at Scheels Arena. The Jackrabbits beat NDSU 86-33 on Jan. 23 in Brookings in the first game of the season series.

Bison Notes

• Sophomore Sofija Zivaljevic tied a career-high with 16 points in a 65-54 loss to Oral Roberts on Wednesday night.
• With three 3-pointers against Oral Roberts, sophomore Michelle Gaislerova moved into sixth in school history with 62 3-pointers this season. 
• Emily Dietz scored a career-high 26 points against Denver on Saturday, as the Pioneers beat NDSU 87-67. Denver held a 29-13 advantage in the second quarter.
• Dietz led the Bison in scoring against North Dakota on Thursday night, as her 13 points gave her double digit scoring numbers for the 10th time this season. 
• North Dakota State was a perfect 12-of-12 at the free throw line against Western Illinois. It was the most made free throws without a miss in school history and the second time the Bison have been perfect at the line with over 10 attempts in the game in school history.
• Gaislerova scored 21 points at Western Illinois, marking the fifth time this season that Gaislerova has scored 20 or more points. She surpassed 600 points for her career against Western Illinois.
• Senior Marina Fernandez notched her first career double-double at Western Illinois, pulling down a career-high 11 rebounds to go with her 13 points. 
• The Bison were scheduled to play Waldorf University in the final non-conference game of the year, but due to brutal cold and travel conditions, the game was canceled.
• North Dakota State hit a season-high 11 3-pointers against Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles countered with 18 long balls, tied for the second most in Summit League history, in the 101-72 win by Oral Roberts.
• Gaislerova scored 18 points against Oral Roberts, as she hit the double digit mark for the 16th time this season and 33rd time in her career.
• Rylee Nudell scored a career-high 22 points against the Golden Eagles, as she went over 600 points for her career.
• The Bison led South Dakota State 6-4 early in the game before the Jackrabbits went on a 22-2 run to take the lead for good in SDSU's 86-33 victory.
• North Dakota State snapped an eight-game losing streak against North Dakota with a 69-57 win. It was the first win over the Fighting Hawks in the NCAA Division I era.
• West Fargo native Emily Dietz had only played three minutes in her career against the Fighting Hawks entering the last game. Dietz finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes.
• Entering the game at Denver, the Pioneers led the nation in 3-pointers made. Denver finished the game with five makes from downtown, the second fewest they have hit in a game this year.
• North Dakota State scored the final eight points of the game against Western Illinois for a 68-60 victory over the Leathernecks. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Leathernecks.

Scouting South Dakota State

• The Jackrabbits enter Saturday's game with a 19-6 overall record and 11-1 record in Summit league play. South Dakota State has won nine-straight games since a 105-98 double overtime loss at South Dakota.
• Tagyn Larson scored a career-high 27 points in an 82-38 win over Omaha on Wednesday night. She broke an SDSU record by going 11-for-11 from the field. She finished a rebound shy of a double-double, while also adding four blocked shots in the victory.
• Macy Miller ranks second in Summit League history with 2,129 points in her career. She is 149 points short of the all-time record.
• The Jackrabbits are one of the best shooting teams in the nation, ranking 13th in field goal percentage at 47.4. They also rank 13th with 416 assists and 16th with a 1.29 assists to turnover ratio.
• Madison Guebert ranks 14th in the nation with 73 3-pointers on the season. She is one of three players in the Summit League with 70 or more long balls this season.

Summit League Food Fight
    NDSU's Student-Athlete Advisory Council will be collecting non-perishable food and monetary donations Feb. 14-20 for this year's Summit League "Food Fight," an annual competition among Summit League member schools. All donations will benefit the Fargo-Moorhead Emergency Food Pantry.
    NDSU SAAC representatives will be accepting donations inside the north and south entrances of the Sanford Health Athletic Complex at each of these upcoming events:
Feb. 15 wrestling vs. South Dakota State, 7 p.m.
Feb. 16 women's basketball vs. South Dakota State, 1 p.m.
Feb. 16 men's basketball vs. South Dakota State, 4 p.m.
    The school that raises the most food (in pounds) at the end of two one-week periods will be named the winner. NDSU collected the equivalent of 5,000 pounds of food in the fall and is aiming for 10,000 pounds by the end of this collection week.
    Fans may donate funds online to @NDSU-SAAC using the Venmo mobile app available in the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Last Time Out
    Oral Roberts (14-12 7-6 Summit) closed the game on a 14-5 run, as the Golden Eagles downed the North Dakota State (6-18, 3-9 Summit) women's basketball team 65-54 Wednesday night at the Scheels Center.
    The Bison led or were tied for most of the first quarter, as the game was tied seven times in the first frame. Sofija Zivaljevic hit a jumper in the lane as time expired in the first quarter to give NDSU a 21-19 lead.
    Zivaljevic continued the run to start the second quarter, as she scored the first six points in a 3:05 span to give NDSU its largest lead of the game at 27-19 with 6:55 left in the half. The Bison went into the half with a 34-30 lead.
    After a free throw by Emily Dietz to start the second half scoring, Maya Mayberry scored six-straight points for Oral Roberts, as the Golden Eagles went on an 11-2 run over a 4:29 span to take a 41-37 lead with 5:00 left in the third quarter. Oral Roberts took a 49-44 lead into the fourth quarter.
    The Bison twice had the lead down to two early in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Tyrah Spencer and a jumper in the lane for Dietz with 7:05 to play. NDSU hit just two baskets for the remainder of the game, as Oral Roberts closed the final 6:48 on a 14-5 run for the 65-54 victory.
    Zivaljevic tied a career-high with 16 points, while Michelle Gaislerova joined her in double figures with 15 points. With three 3-pointers, Gaislerova moved into sixth in school history with 62 treys this season. Spencer had nine points on three long balls. KeniJo Lippe led the Golden Eagles with a game-high 22 points. Marina Fernandez had nine rebounds, while Gaislerova and Dietz had seven and six respectively, a career-high for Gaislerova. Spencer had a season-high five assists, while Rylee Nudell added four assists. 
    NDSU was 20-of-52 (38.5%) from the floor and 8-of-20 (40%) from 3-point range. Oral Roberts was 22-of-57 (38.6%) from the field and 7-of-20 (35%) from 3-point range. The Bison were 6-of-11 (54.5%) at the free throw line, while Oral Roberts was 14-of-19 (73.7%). Oral Roberts had a 17-6 advantage in points off turnovers and 12-4 advantage in second chance points.
  
106 and Counting
    North Dakota State has made at least two 3-pointers in 106-straight games dating back to a loss against Delaware on Nov. 29, 2015. The Bison are averaging 5.8 3-pointers per game this year and have hit at least seven in 11 games. 

Mixing It Up
    The Bison have eight players that have played at least 310 minutes this year, with four of them having played at least 670 minutes. NDSU has used 25 different lineups for at least 10 minutes. Two Bison lineups have outscored their opponents by 16 points this year, as Michelle Gaislerova, Tyrah Spencer, Danneka Voegeli, Cirkeline Rimdal and Sofija Zivaljevic have outscored opponents 35-19 in 19:56 of action, while Rylee Nudell, Gaislerova, Tyrah Spencer, Marina Fernandez and Zivaljevic have outscored opponents 34-18 in 12:29 on the floor together. Spencer has the highest plus rating of the year in the win over Purdue Fort Wayne, as the Bison were +28 in her 34:46 of action in the victory.

Perfect at Home in January
    For the second-straight year, the Bison finished a month with a perfect home record at the Scheels Center. This year, the Bison were 2-0 in games played at home in January. North Dakota State earned wins over Western Illinois (68-60) on Jan. 11 and North Dakota (69-57) on Jan. 20. The Bison were scheduled to play Waldorf University on Jan. 30, but weather and travel conditions forced that game to be canceled. The Bison were also perfect in November of 2017, finishing that month with a 4-0 record at home to start the season.

The Rare Cancelation
    With the game against Waldorf University canceled due to weather and travel conditions, it marked the third time since NDSU moved to NCAA Division I that a game had been canceled. The previous two times were against Jamestown in December 2008 and Dakota State in December 2010.

Making Them When They Matter
    The Bison are shooting 68.3 percent (252-of-369) at the free throw line this year, but they are hitting them when it matters. NDSU is 58-of-77 (75.3%) at the charity stripe in the final three minutes of games this season. Sofija Zivaljevic has been to the line 16 times in the final three minutes, hitting 15 of them (93.8%). 

2018-19 NDSU Women's Basketball Captains Announced
    Rylee Nudell, Tyrah Spencer and Marina Fernandez have been voted team captains for the Bison for the upcoming 2018-19 season. This is the second year that Spencer has been voted a captain. 

Bison Sign Two on National Signing Day
    NDSU announced the signing of high school standouts, Nicole Scales and Olivia Skibiel, to a National Letter of Intent to attend NDSU and play basketball starting in the fall of 2019. Scales is a 5-9 guard from Park Ridge, Ill., while Skibiel is a 6-1 guard/forward from Snohomish, Wash. In 31 games last season, Scales averaged a team-best 12.4 points per game. She also owns the Maine South single-season record for 3-pointers in a season with 80 and highest free throw percentage (47-of-59 – 80%).Skibiel averaged 18.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game as a junior. She was 69-of-80 (86%) at the free throw line during junior season. 

NDSU Women's Basketball Picked Seventh In Summit League Preseason Poll
    The North Dakota State Bison women's basketball team was voted seventh in the Summit League preseason poll released by the league office. South Dakota State was tabbed the preseason favorite with 24 first-place votes, while South Dakota was picked second with the remaining nine first-place votes. The Summit League finished 12th out of 32 conferences in RPI last season.

MidcoSN to Televise Every NDSU Women's Basketball Home Game in 2018-19
    Midco has announced that all 14 NDSU home games during the 2018-19 season will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network. All games will either be on MidcoSN or MidcoSN2. In addition, all home games will be covered by ESPN+ or ESPN3. Road games at Omaha (Jan. 6), South Dakota State (Jan. 23), North Dakota (Feb. 7) and South Dakota (Feb. 28) will also be on the Midco Sports Network.

Last Time Against South Dakota State
    South Dakota State (14-6, 6-1 Summit) outscored the North Dakota State (6-13, 3-4 Summit) 45-10 over the second and third quarters Wednesday night in an 86-33 victory at Frost Arena.
    The Bison held an early 6-4 lead on baskets by Marina Fernandez, Emily Dietz and Tyrah Spencer. Tagyn Larson hit a layup with 7:28 to play in the first quarter, as the Jackrabbits answered with a 22-2 run until Danneka Voegeli hit a layup with :14 left in the quarter. The Jackrabbits led 26-8 after the first frame.
    South Dakota State closed the first half on a 13-2 run over a 4:48 span, taking a 43-14 lead at halftime.
    Following a layup by Fernandez to start the second half, the Jackrabbits went on a 12-0 run to push the lead to 55-16 with 6:04 left in the quarter. SDSU ended the third quarter on a 14-0 run over the last 3:53, taking a 71-20 lead into the fourth quarter.
    The Bison closed the game on a 10-2 run over the final 5:03. A 3-pointer by Sofija Zivaljevic gave NDSU the final points of the game.
    Fernandez led the Bison with nine points, while Voegeli and Dietz had six apiece. Voegeli led NDSU with six rebounds, while Rylee Nudell finished with three. Zivaljevic, Fernandez and Nudell each had two assists, while Fernandez added two steals.
    NDSU was 14-of-46 (30.4%) from the field and 3-of-20 (15%) from 3-point range. The Jackrabbits were 35-of-61 (57.4%) from the floor and 10-of-23 (43.5%) from downtown. NDSU was perfect in both attempts at the free throw line, while SDSU was 6-of-9 at the charity stripe. SDSU had advantages in points in the paint (44-20), points off turnovers (24-9), second chance points (13-0) and fastbreak points (12-0).

Down the Stretch
    The highest scoring quarter so far this year for the Bison has been the fourth quarter, where NDSU has put up 381 points. The Bison are averaging 15.9 points in the fourth quarter, while shooting 40.1 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from 3-point range. Michelle Gaislerova is averaging 4.0 points in the fourth quarter, while Sofija Zivaljevic is averaging 3.5. Rylee Nudell is shooting 59.1 percent (26-of-44) from the field, while Gaislerova is 13-of-34 (38.2%) from 3-point range.

Norman Joins the Squad
    Former NDSU Soccer player Hanna Norman has joined the women's basketball team. Norman was a two-time All-Summit League selection on the pitch, earning first team honors this past fall. She was also named to the all-freshman team during her rookie campaign. She appeared in 72 games for the Bison, notching a start in 69 of them including every match the last two years. She scored nine goals and had an assist, finishing with five game-winning goals. Coming out of high school, Norman was a Top Drawer Soccer four-star recruit and ranked No. 21 in the Midwest and was the No. 3-ranked defender in the region. On the basketball court in high school, she was a three-time all-conference selection and scored over 1,000 points in her career at Hastings (Minn.) High School.

Last Five Games
    In the last five games, Michelle Gaislerova is averaging 14.4 points per game. Sofija Zivaljevic (11.2), Emily Dietz (11.0) and Rylee Nudell (10.4) join Gaislerova in double figure average over the last five games. Marina Fernandez is averaging 7.8 rebounds per game in the stretch. Gaislerova is 14-of-32 (43.8%) from 3-point range, while Nudell is 8-of-14 (57.1%) from downtown. Nudell is 17-of-30 (56.7%) from the field in the last five games.
    
On the Horizon
    The Bison will host Omaha next Saturday, Feb. 23 at the Scheels Center. NDSU will honor its senior class before the game. The game is part of a doubleheader with the men, as they face Omaha at 4 p.m.