Bison women's basketball holds off Denver

FARGO It might not have been pretty but the North Dakota State womens basketball team earned its second-straight Summit League win on Thursday night.

The Bison topped the Denver Pioneers 69-59 in conference play at the Scheels Center at Sanford Health and Athletic Complex.

NDSU improved to 10-5 and 2-0 in the Summit League.

The victory marked the fourth-straight win for the Bison.

(Denver) kind of stopped us a little bit, said NDSU guard Abby Schulte.

We kept trucking along and ultimately got the win.

The Bison rolled through Denver in the second quarter, scoring 27 points in the quarter and taking a 23-point lead into halftime.

NDSU shot 60% from the field.

NDSU took control early and built a 10-point lead in the first quarter.

The first ended with the Bison ahead 18-10.

The Bison made 11-for-11 from the foul line in the first half and led 45-22 at the break.

Freshman guard Marisa Frost hit two free throws with 2 minutes, 30 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Bison their first 20-point lead of the game.

The Pioneers came out swinging in the third quarter and pieced together an 8-0 run.

Denver trimmed the lead to 58-40 after Emma Smith splashed a 3-pointer as the clock expired in the third.

Denver capitalized on multiple NDSU fouls, scoring seven points from the foul line in the fourth quarter.

The Bison escaped the late push to remain undefeated in the Summit.

Avery Koenen paced the Bison with 14 points.

Koenen made 4 of 7 from the foul line and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

My teammates did a good job finding me down low, Koenen said.

I got a lot of mismatches with their smaller guards.

Koenen was one of four different Bison scorers with double-digit point totals.

Theres so many different ways that we can attack people, Schulte said.

Its hard to guard.

Schulte and forward Abbie Draper both finished with 12 points.

Frost added 10 points off the bench.

Abby Graham had three assists and two steals.

NDSU shot 21-for-52 from the field.

The Bison held off Denver thanks in part to going 23-for-29 from the foul line.

Theyre critical, said NDSU head coach Jory Collins on the teams performance from the foul line.

Thats just part of who we are offensively.

The Bison have won four straight games over Denver, including a 72-60 win over the Pioneers last season.

Pioneers guard Jordan Jones led all scorers with 23 points and five assists.

Emma Smith had nine points and two steals.

Laia Monclova grabbed four rebounds.

Denver made 16 of 20 free throws and was 20-for-47 from the field.

The Bison host Oral Roberts (11-4, 1-1 Summit) at noon Saturday, Jan.

11 at the SHAC.

The Golden Eagles are ranked No.

20 in the College Insider Mid-Major Womens poll.

Its always a fun matchup with them and theyre a really good team, Koenen said of Oral Roberts.

We know that we can take them.

(We) just (need to) go in with confidence and see what we can do..

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