In a tough season, the Herd have something to cheer about

The NDSU women’s basketball team collected their first conference win on Sunday as they beat rival North Dakota 92-82. The win improved the Herd’s record to 4-13 on the season, while UND fell to 12-7. The Bison currently sit at eighth place in the Summit League standings, ahead of only Purdue Fort Wayne. 

The win came at a good time for the Bison, as they were in the midst of a four-game losing streak and were coming off of a blowout loss against South Dakota. 

The Bison jumped on the Fighting Hawks quickly and took a 5-0 lead in the first minute of the game. NDSU took the lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to a 9-2 run. UND took its first lead of the game with 8:21 to play in the first half but held the lead for just 1:07. The Bison used an 18-6 run over a 4:57 span in the second quarter to take a 49-41 lead into halftime. The Herd led by ten with 9:30 to play before the Fighting Hawks went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 77-76 with 7:16 to play. NDSU led 82-81 following a 3-pointer by Lilly Keplin with just under five minutes to play. That would be the final basket of the game for UND. NDSU used a 10-1 run in the final 2:23 of Sunday’s game to propel them to victory. 

1:07. The Bison used an 18-6 run over a 4:57 span in the second quarter to take a 49-41 lead into halftime. The Herd led by ten with 9:30 to play before the Fighting Hawks went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 77-76 with 7:16 to play. NDSU led 82-81 following a 3-pointer by Lilly Keplin with just under five minutes to play. That would be the final basket of the game for UND. NDSU used a 10-1 run in the final 2:23 of Sunday’s game to propel them to victory. 

Michelle Gaislerova and Ryan Cobbins led the way for the Bison, each putting up a season-high 22 points. It was Gaislerova’s 11th career 20-plus point game, while she also moved into a tie for third in school history with 156 career three-pointers. Sofija Zivaljevic added 15 points, while Rylee Nudell had 11. Zivaljevic went 11-11 at the free-throw line, becoming the 16th player in school history to be perfect at the line with over 10 attempts in a game. 

Julia Fleecs led the way for the Fighting Hawks with 18 points. Lilly Keplin added 13 points on the night.

The Bison shot 27-54 from the field and went 6-16 from three. UND shot 23-61 from the field and went 7-19 from downtown. Both teams got to the free-throw line often and they were both able to take advantage of those opportunities. NDSU shot just over 84 percent from the free-throw line, going 32-38. While UND shot nearly 88 percent from the line, going 29-33. The free-throw line was a huge reason why the Bison were able to win the game, as they struggled immensely from the floor in the fourth quarter going 1-6. However, they went 15-18 from the free-throw line. 

Hopefully, this win will help the Bison right the ship as they have a tough test coming up on Friday when they travel to Brookings, South Dakota to take on the Jackrabbits. SDSU just had their seven-game winning streak snapped by 21st ranked South Dakota on Sunday. With not many highlights on the season, a win at SDSU would be a huge boost to an otherwise disappointing season.