The NDSU women’s basketball team used a strong fourth quarter, outscoring Omaha 26-11, to push themselves past Omaha by a final score of 81-67 this past Thursday in Baxter Arena. The Bison move to 12-5 on the season and 4-0 in the Summit League so far, the second season in a row in which they have started 4-0 in the conference. With the loss, Omaha dropped to 9-8 and 1-3 in conference play. 

The Bison found themselves down 56-55 at the end of the third quarter but were able to start the fourth quarter hot with eight unanswered points, finding themselves with a 63-58 lead with just over seven minutes to go. A 12-0 run put the game out of reach for Omaha, as NDSU took a 77-63 lead, its largest lead of the day, with just over a minute to go. Both teams matched as time expired to end in an 81-67 Bison victory. 

The Herd had four different players reach double-digit points, with Marisa Frost leading the way with a game-high 23, going 11-16 from the field, and she was a game-high +21. Abbie Draper flirted with a double-double with 16 points and 8 total rebounds. Abby Schulte was also good for a season-high 14, along with six boards, and Avery Koenen added 12 for her fifth straight game in double digits. Grace Cave was the high scorer for Omaha with 22. 

NDSU struggled from behind the arc, shooting only 2-16 from three but overall shot 33-60 from the field. The Bison had nearly double the points in the paint with 60 to Omaha’s 16 and outscored the Mavericks in both bench points and second-chance points. 

NDSU had their six-game winning streak snapped this past weekend with a 56-51 loss on Saturday at Kansas City. The Bison loss drops them to 12-6 and 4-1 in the Summit League, and Kansas City improves to 7-13 and 3-2 in the conference. 

The Bison had stretched the lead out to as big as 16 in the first half before the Roos made it a one-point game, 51-50, with just over a minute to go. A Kansas City steal with 24 seconds left gave them a 52-51 lead, and the Bison were unable to close the gap before time expired. 

Abby Krzewinski was the high scorer for the Bison, notching 11 points to go along with five boards, and Marisa Frost also added 10. Abbie Draper was close to a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds and eight points. 

The Bison shot 16-43 from the field, 5-14 from beyond the arc, and 14-18 from the charity stripe. They were outscored in the paint 30-17, fast break points 14-3, and second chance points 15-5. 

North Dakota State will look to bounce back as they head to Vermillion to take on South Dakota this Wednesday. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.