Women's Basketball: NDSU Loses Koenen, Krzewinski to Injuries in Loss at Gonzaga

Following the most historic season in the Division 1 era of the North Dakota State women’s basketball program, the Bison are looking to finally break through in the 2026-27 season and win a Summit League championship. They won the regular season title last year, but were runner-up to South Dakota State in the tournament.

The Bison kicked off the eighth year of the Jory Collins era this past Monday vs. Gonzaga on the road. Gonzaga came to Fargo last season on Nov. 7, 2025 and handed NDSU one of just their five losses on the entire season, 81-66.

Gonzaga won 24 games last season and 14-4 in the WCC and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Ole Miss in Minneapolis. The Bulldogs entered this game 1-0 after beating Westmount College, so this would be their first D1 game of the season.

NDSU would jump out to a 13-6 lead in the first quarter when the worst thing that could’ve possibly happened to this team happened. Senior and defending Summit League Player of the Year, Avery Koenen, would get knocked out of the game with what seemed to be a leg injury.

Gonzaga’s Lauren Whittaker was diving for a ball and put some force into the side of Koenen’s leg, leading to her injury. Koenen wouldn’t return to the game.

“We’re praying for her. She’s a heck of a player. We were looking forward to that matchup,” said Gonzaga head coach Lisa Fortidder.

Just before Koenen left, senior guard and fourth-year starter Abby Krzewinski also left the game with an injury and never returned. Jory Collins released a statement about the two’s injuries this past Tuesday.

“Both Avery and Abby suffered lower leg injuries in our game against Gonzaga. They are both still getting evaluated to determine specific treatment and will both miss time for the foreseeable future. We will provide more updates as we learn more about their recovery timeline.”

Two injuries to two starters within 15 seconds of game time of one another. Just a gut-wrenching beginning to a season, but the Bison would have to try and find a way vs. Gonzaga without them.

The first quarter would end with a 13-8 Bison lead despite the injuries. The Bison would maintain a lead, outscoring Gonzaga 16-14 in the second quarter to take a 29-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Bison would continue to tread water without Koenen and Krzewinski on the back of Karrington Asp, and would match Gonzaga’s 12 points in the third quarter for a 41-34 lead entering the final 10 minutes of play.

The fourth quarter would be all Bulldogs. They’d outscore the Bison 28-15 in the final quarter of play, leading to a Gonzaga comeback win over the Bison, 62-56. What started as an amped up season opener for a season with the highest expectations in program history, ended in two catastrophic injuries and a blown lead.