Men’s basketball
The North Dakota State men’s basketball team (1-3) dropped their third game of the year in overtime to Incarnate Word (4-2).
Incarnate Word’s Morgan Taylor led the way with 24 points, as the Cardinals rallied past the Herd 80-78. Junior guard Tyson Ward led the Bison with 14 points, followed by Rocky Kreuser with 13 and Jared Samuelson with 12.
The back and forth game featured 11 ties and 15 lead changes. The Bison appeared to be cruising to victory halfway through the second half with a 61-46 lead. However, the Cardinals came soaring back with a 9-0 run to keep it close. A pair of 3-point buckets by Antoine Smith Jr. and Taylor in the final minute sent the game into overtime.
The Bison look to get back on track over Thanksgiving break with a game against East Tennessee State before a bout with the third-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs Nov. 26.
Women’s basketball
The NDSU women’s basketball team (2-2) was unable to come out of Wisconsin with a win as the University of Wisconsin Badgers (3-0) took down the Bison 64-53.
The Badgers appeared to be on their way to running away with the game after taking a 42-27 lead halfway through the third quarter. The Herd thundered back with a blazing 13-1 run to cut the deficit to three. There were just four points separating the teams heading into the fourth quarter.
A layup by Bison sophomore Emily Dietz brought the Bison within five with just over five minutes to go. Wisconsin responded with an 8-2 run to finish the game.
The Big Ten team kept their Summit League guest from the free-throw line. NDSU was perfect from the charity stripe, but only made four attempts. The Badgers made 13 of 17 shots from the foul line in the game. The Wisconsin bench also out-scored the Bison bench 18-4.
The women’s team looks to rebound this Friday, as they take on Pacific in the first game of the Turkey Tip-Off in Stockton, California.
Volleyball
NDSU made Summit League Championship history, becoming the first No. 6 seed to win a game in the tournament. The Bison took the first round match against No. 3 Omaha 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-21).
NDSU featured a balanced attack Friday night. Senior McKenzie Burke led the team with 13 kills. She was followed closely by Allie Mauch and Emily Halverson, with 12 and 11 kills respectively.
The Cinderella story was short lived as the Bison put up a spirited defense against South Dakota on Saturday. The fresh Coyotes put away the Bison in four sets, 3-1 (25-11, 21-25, 25-11, 25-23).
It was all USD in the opening frame, but the Bison battled back with a second-set victory. Mauch tallied five of her eight kills on the night in the second frame.
Despite the same score, the third set was significantly closer. Every point seemed to go back and forth, but ultimately fell for the No. 2 seed.
NDSU won the long points in the fourth and led late. The Coyotes came back to tie the set at 21-21 and took the lead down the stretch for the win.
Alexis Bachmeier led the Bison with 16 kills. Abbi Klos led the NDSU defensive effort with 18 digs.
In her final match at NDSU, Burke finished by tying her career-high with four aces in the match.