Team cruises at Omaha, fall at Denver

The North Dakota State women’s basketball team cruised by Omaha, 69-53, on Thursday night at Baxter Arena. Three Bison scored in double figures.

Ryan Cobbins led the team with 17 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the floor. Heaven Hamling finished with 14 points and six assists, tying a career-high. Emily Dietz also scored in double figures, with 12 points and six rebounds.

NDSU (9-13, 5-7 Summit) hit on a season-high 52 percent (26-50) of their field goals, with eight different players connecting on at least one. The Bison also made all nine free-throw attempts and shot 30.8% (8-26) from three.

With six points from Olivia Skibiel in the first quarter, NDSU went on a 10-0 run to take a 15-2 lead at the 5:14 mark. After Abby Schulte raced the length of the floor for a layup in traffic and completed off the three-point play with a free throw with 1:09 left in the third period, the Bison didn’t look back, increasing their greatest lead of the game, 57-29. The Bison never trailed in the game and went on to win 69-53 by closing out the remaining time.

Denver

The North Dakota State women’s basketball team trimmed the deficit to five points in the third quarter, but couldn’t complete the comeback, falling to Denver, 62-48, at Hamilton Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Heaven Hamling led the Bison (9-14, 5-8 Summit) with 14 points, reaching double digits in scoring for the fifth straight game. Over 37 minutes of play, she also had a team-high six rebounds. Ryan Cobbins put in 11 points, while Abby Schulte contributed 12 of her own.

The Bison pulled down 33 rebounds, with seven different players grabbing three or more. NDSU made 73.3% of their free throws (11-15) and 28.3 percent of their field goals (17-60).

Bison will return home and take on Western Illinois at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 10 at the Scheels Center.