The NDSU Women’s basketball team had four players in double digits as they kicked off the Big Sky-Summit League challenge this past Wednesday with an 83-74 win over Montana. Marisa Frost led the way for the Bison as the game’s high scorer, dropping 27 while going 7-8 from the field, 3-3 from behind the arc, and 10-12 from the charity stripe. Abbie Draper was also good for 17, shooting 6-9 from the field while also grabbing 6 boards. Avery Koenen recorded 13 to go along with 7 points and 3 assists, and Abby Krzewinski also added 10. 

The Bison shot 50% from the field and 72.2% from three. NDSU scored 40 points in the paint while forcing 14 Montana turnovers, and the Bison won the bench battle 42-36. 

The Herd was able to jump out to a lead as large as 22 in the first half, but Montana worked to get that down to single digits at 68-60 with just under seven minutes left to play. Frost was able to answer with a layup and converted the and-one to make a 76-66 lead with four minutes to go. Marisa Frost connected on seven layups over the last minute of the game to wrap up the Bison win. 

NDSU kept the momentum going into Saturday as they took down Eastern Washington, 74-47, to win their third straight game in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge. Avery Koenen netted a team-high 14 points, shooting 5-8 from the field while grabbing 5 rebounds. Both Marisa Frost and Abby Krzewinski (5-5 from the field, 3-3 from three) were close behind, each adding 13 to go with 5 and 4 rebounds, respectively. Miriley Simon was a +25 while grabbing 6 defensive rebounds.

The Bison shot 54.2% from the field. 57.2% from behind the arc and 84.6% from the free throw line. NDSU’s bench outscored Eastern Washington’s 30-9 while forcing 15 turnovers and winning in transition, scoring 13 fast break points to EWU’s four. The Bison also grabbed a season-high 39 rebounds. 

NDSU was able to start off hot, getting off to a 34-22 lead early on while shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half. The Bison then were able to string together 16 unanswered points to open a 51-23 lead with just over four minutes to go, topped off by a Krzewinski triple. NDSU held on to close out Eastern Washington, 74-47, to move to 6-3 on the year. NDSU will stay on the road as they head to Tulane on Tuesday, with tip-off set for 4:00 p.m.