On Wednesday night, the NDSU women’s basketball team (16-8, 8-3 Summit) lost to no. 24 South Dakota State, falling by a score of 68-53 in Fargo.
Avery Koenen was the top scorer for the Bison, notching a double-double while pouring in 13 points to go along with 11 boards and two assists. Molly Lenz added nine to go with three rebounds, and Abby Krzewinski added eight.
The Bison shot 29.3% from the field and 36% from behind the arc and were outscored in paint points, second chance, and fast break points. The Summit-leading Jackrabbits (22-3, 12-0) shot 50% from both the field and from three and had three players in double-digits.
SDSU took a 10-point lead, 34-24, into the second half and immediately went on a nine-point unanswered run to open the half, extending their lead to 44-29 with around four minutes left in the third quarter. The Bison tried to come back, but the attempt came up short, and the Jacks held off NDSU in the final quarter to wrap up a 68-53 win.
The second game of the week held a similar tone to the first, as the Bison came up short against the UND Fighting Hawks in Grand Forks on Saturday by a final score of 65-60.
Avery Koenen once again spearheaded the offensive attack for the Bison, logging a career-high 29 points, good for her fifth 20-point game of the season. Koenen went 12-17 from the field and five of six from the free-throw line. Koenen also logged a second consecutive double-double, as she snagged a season and game-high 14 boards, 12 of them being on the defensive end. Abby Krzewinski was the only other Bison in double digits, logging 12 points and going four of seven from behind the arc.
The Bison (16-9, 8-4 Summit) shot 41.1% from the field and just 23.8% from three. The Hawks (9-16, 4-8) won the paint battle 32-28 and bench points 14-6.
In a back-and-forth contest that saw eight lead changes and eight ties, a pair of Koenen free throws tied things up at 57 with just over two minutes left to play. The Hawks answered with a six-to-one run to take a 63-58 lead after a free throw with 12 seconds left. The Bison comeback was stymied, and they fell short 65-60.
The Bison will look to bounce back as they head to Denver this Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.