The Bison women’s basketball team’s comeback bid against South Dakota State, trailing by 11 at halftime, fell just short this past Wednesday. They lost to the Jackrabbits by a final score of 63-55. NDSU drops to 14-7 and 6-2 in the Summit, while the Jackrabbits improve to 18-3 overall and stay a perfect 8-0 in conference play.
Abbie Draper, this past week’s Summit League player of the week, was the leading scorer for the Bison, dropping 16 to go along with eight rebounds. Abby Schulte added 11, and freshman Marisa Frost scored seven off of the bench. The Bison had a tough shooting night, shooting at a 38% clip from the field and only 63% from the free throw line.
Brooklyn Meyer took over for the Jackrabbits, logging 24 points to go along with nine boards and two assists. Both Haleigh Timmer and Paige Meyer added 13 as well.
A big second quarter for SDSU, holding the Bison to only five points, led to a 31-20 halftime lead for the Jacks. NDSU responded with a 14-2 run in the third quarter, taking the lead 39-37 after a Molly Lenz three-pointer with a minute and a half left to go in the frame. The Bison flipped from the second quarter, winning the quarter 21-8 and taking a 41-39 lead into the fourth.
A pair of Avery Koenen free throws gave NDSU a 50-49 lead with just over six minutes to play, but an eight-point unanswered run from the Rabbits put the game out of reach.
The Bison had 15 points off of turnovers and 18 points in the paint and also shot 9-20 from beyond the arc.
NDSU bounced back, using a late push to defeat St. Thomas 81-74 in Fargo on Saturday. NDSU now improves to 15-7 and 7-2 in Summit League play.
Avery Koenen led the way for the Bison with her third 20-point game of the year, dropping 22 on 8-14 from the field on top of seven rebounds. Molly Lenz added a career-high 19, knocking down all four of her three-point attempts. Marisa Frost added 19 as well. NDSU found their stroke, shooting 25-52 (49%) from the field and 25-27 (92.6%) from the free throw line. NDSU outscored UST 21-six in bench points and 17-15 on points off turnovers.
With things all knotted up at 54, NDSU opened up the final frame with a 12-0 run that lasted over three minutes to make it 66-54 as Lenz cashed a three-pointer with just under six minutes left to play. St. Thomas tried to work their way back, getting it as close as 72-68 with 2 minutes left. The Bison were able to take care of business, knocking down nine free throws in the last two minutes to seal an 81-74 win.
NDSU will look to keep rolling as they will stay home with South Dakota coming to Fargo this Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. at the SHAC.