Historic Bison Women’s Season Comes to an End in WBIT

After an 11-day gap between games, the North Dakota State Bison were set to play in the first round of the WBIT inside the SHAC. The Bison were coming off a disappointing 64-51 loss to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, which pushed the Bison into the first four out of the NCAA tournament.

The Bison would be searching for another deep run in a postseason tournament after reaching the Elite 8 in the WNIT last season, and it would tip off with a first-round matchup with Chattanooga. Junior forward Avery Koenen would give the Bison a hot start, scoring seven points to go up 17-10 after the first quarter.

“Just to go out and still play with this group is so fun,” said Koenen. The Bison widened the gap in the second quarter, outscoring Chattanooga 22-14.

The Bison would struggle shooting, but would flex their muscles on defense. “I was very pleased with how we guarded in the first half,” said Head Coach Jory Collins.

Sophomore point guard Jocelyn Schiller would have a big third quarter playing on her still recovering ankle, scoring six points. “She still doesn’t have the ‘Jocelyn burst’ that she had before she rolled her ankle,” said Collins.

The Bison continued to struggle shooting from the three-point line, but would continue to dominate on defense and take a 59-38 lead into the final quarter of play. Chattanooga would start the fourth quarter with a 14-7 run to cut the lead down to 66-52 for NDSU, making things interesting, as Abby Krzewinski hit the dagger three-pointer after a rough shooting day for NDSU.

“We know we are a better shooting team than that,” said Collins. “Just looked a little bit rusty.” The Bison would hold on for a 75-62 win to get a third straight season with a postseason victory.

“To get to continue playing after your regular season. It says a lot about your program and where this program is going,” said Koenen. “It’s really exciting to be a part of a program that is moving in that direction.”

“It’s what you’re doing it for,” said Collins on winning a postseason game yet again. “Basketball is a 5-6 month grind; the season is long.” This group in particular has set the standard for NDSU women’s basketball as they would be just one win away from reaching 30 wins in a single season for the first time since 1996, when they won their fourth straight Division 2 national championship.

“This is a group I’m going to remember for a very long time,” said Collins.

The Bison was set to take on Columbia out of the Ivy League who went 11-3 in conference play and is 21-8 overall. They dominated St John’s 74-26 to advance to the second round to take on the Bison.

“They are very good,” said Collins. “They’ve got good size and play pressure defense. It’ll be a great challenge on Sunday.”

The challenge may have been a little more than what Collins had anticipated. Columbia raced out to a 30-13 lead after the first quarter. Probably the worst quarter of basketball NDSU has played all season.

The second quarter would be just as bad as Columbia outscored NDSU 26-9, holding them to single digits in a full quarter of play. NDSU would fall behind 56-22 at the half in their worst half of play all season.

“That wasn’t on my bingo card today,” said Collins. Schiller struggled early on and would not return for the remainder of the game, which would contribute to NDSU’s struggles.

“She just struggled early; she wasn’t moving very well. That’s a long-term decision of just I didn’t know if she needed to be out there,” said Collins.

The Bison put up a great fight in the second half, outshooting Columbia 35-30, playing a solid final half of basketball in this 2025-2026 season against an impressive team. “That’s an NCAA tournament caliber team, no question,” said Collins.

A historic NDSU women’s basketball season would come to an end at 29-5, falling one game short of their first 30-win season in 30 years.

The focus now shifts to the 2026-2027 season after the Bison took yet another step forward in what they hope will eventually lead to a Summit League championship one day. “It was an awesome year for us. I think our team got really close,” said Marisa Frost.

It would also conclude one of the best individual seasons in NDSU women’s basketball history for Junior Avery Koenen. She set a Summit League record for player of the week awards, along with being the player of the year in the conference.

“That’s gotta be up there with as good a season as anybody has had in a Bison uniform,” said Collins. “I don’t know what else to say. That’s about as good as you could do in a season.”

“It’s been incredible to watch her grow from freshman year, just seeing how she’s grown as a player and as a person,” said Krzewinski. Pending any major transfer portal movement on this roster, the Bison will return nearly their entire team in 2026-27.

“Super excited about who we have returning. They’ve elevated the standard again,” said Collins. The Bison will lose just three players through graduation, and they are point guard Audrey Martinez-Stewart, guard Abby Graham, and Forward Lily Niebuhr. Graham is the only one who played major minutes for this Bison team. Retaining the talent is the next step for this team as we look ahead to next season.

But for now, we conclude the best NDSU women’s basketball season in the Division 1 era. “This was the most joy that I’ve found in coaching a group, probably that I’ve had in my 15 years of being a head coach,” said Collins. “It really had nothing to do with the amount of wins we had, just the quality of time spent with our players and coaching staff. It was just really rewarding.”