NDSU Women’s Basketball Welcomes Eastern Illinois on Sunday

THIS WEEK         
The North Dakota State (0-1) women’s basketball team continues its homestand hosting Eastern Illinois (0-0) on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m., at Scheels Center.
 
GAME COVERAGE
Watch: The contest will be available on WDAY Xtra and the Summit League Network through the Midco Sports Plus app for subscribers. Dom Izzo (play-by-play) and Amy Ruley (analyst) will be on the call.
 
Radio: Andy Rieckhoff (play-by-play) and Emily Dietz (analyst) will be on the call on Bison 1660 with pregame coverage beginning at 1:30 p.m.
 
GoBison.com: Live statistics, audio and video links are available on GoBison.com.
 
PROMOTIONS
The first 100 students will receive free pizza for attending.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Drake used a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter to comeback and top NDSU in the season opener, 84-78, on Monday. Avery Koenen narrowly missed a double-double with a team-best 13 points and nine rebounds to go along with two steals. Abbie Draper added in 10 points with eight rebounds, while Molly Lenz also reached double digits in her Bison debut with 10 points and four rebounds.
 
THE SERIES VS. EASTERN ILLINOIS           
This will mark the first-ever meeting between NDSU and Eastern Illinois. The Panthers open the 2024-25 season at North Dakota on Friday night at 7:00 p.m.
 
NEW BISON IN THE LINEUP
Molly Lenz, Marisa Frost and Claire Stern all reached the scoring column in their Bison debuts against Drake. Lenz, who also made her first career start, tallied 10 points with four rebounds over 22 minutes. Frost added eight points with two steals over 24 minutes, while Stern contributed seven points over 15 minutes.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Bison are a combined 24-3 over the last three seasons at Scheels Center, including a 13-1 mark at home last season. It marked the most wins at home since the 2004-05 season. NDSU is 485-144 all-time at home dating back to 1977-78. Additionally, the Bison won 11 straight non-conference matchups at home dating back to the 2021-22 season before falling short against Drake earlier this season.
 
FREQUENT FLYER MILES
After opening the season with three straight home games, NDSU will play eight of its next nine games on the road. Over that span, the Bison will travel over 16,000 miles in non-conference play across four different time zones. The non-conference schedule also features six first time opponents with NDSU facing Eastern Illinois, Vermont, Charleston Southern, Tulane, Washington and Dakota Wesleyan.
 
TESTED EARLY
The Bison will be tested from the very start and throughout non-conference play this season. Among the 10 NCAA Division I opponents in non-conference play, NDSU will face six teams that finished last season with at least 20 wins and advanced to a postseason tournament. That list includes: Drake (29-6, NCAA), Vermont (25-12, WNIT), College of Charleston (22-10, WNIT), Montana (23-10, WNIT), Eastern Washington (29-6, NCAA) and Boise State (21-14, WNIT). The Bison will also travel to Washington, who finished with a 16-15 record last season and participated in the WBIT.
 
SEASON FIVE FOR SCHULTE
Abby Schulte is in her fifth season with the Bison and brings the most experience to the roster. Schulte has appeared in 117 games with 106 starts over five seasons. Her 106 starts rank 10th on the all-time NDSU games started list. Schulte is three starts away from passing Rylee Nudell (2016-20) for ninth place. She has also handed out over 90 assists in each of the last two seasons, including a career-best 103 in 2022-23.
 
SOPHOMORE SURGE
The Bison return four true sophomores this season with Abby Krzewinski, Avery Koenen, Miriley Simon and Taryn Hamling in the lineup. NDSU played a total of 6,800 minutes last season, which was the most in NDSU history. The quartet of Krzewinski, Koenen, Simon and Hamling accounted for 30 percent (2,033 minutes) of the total minutes played. Krzewinski led the group with 739 minutes played over 34 games with 31 starts.
 
FRESH FACES IN FARGO
NDSU welcomed two transfers to the roster last spring with the additions of Molly Lenz and Sacia Vanderpool. Lenz appeared in all 34 games off the bench for Illinois State in her freshman season and reached the scoring column in 26 of 34 games. Vanderpool played three seasons at Wisconsin and appeared in six games after redshirting during the 2021-22 season.
 
YOUNG BISON
The Bison added three freshmen to the roster with the addition of Claire Stern, Marisa Frost and Amelia Hobson. Stern was the sixth-rated prospect in Minnesota on prepgirlshoops.com, while Frost was the ninth-rated prospect in Minnesota on prepgirlshoops.com and was also ranked as the 229th best prospect on Dan Olson’s Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. Hobson was the fourth-highest scorer in the Victorian Championship League in Australia and was selected to the under 18s Victorian State Team.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL        
For the second straight season, NDSU was picked inside the top three in the Summit League Preseason Poll. The Bison garnered 427 total points and one first-place vote to earn the third spot in the poll. South Dakota State was picked first with 562 points and 34 first-place votes, while Oral Roberts was slotted in second place with 479 points and one first-place vote.
 
LOOKING BACK AT LAST SEASON             
The Bison finished last season with the most wins in the NDSU Division I era with a 22-12 overall record and advanced to the Summit League Tournament championship game for the first time in program history along with their second straight appearance in the WNIT. NDSU also finished the season ranked inside the top 30 in the nation in three-point percentage (13th, 36.8), free throws per game (21st, 15.03) and scoring offense (29th, 75.4).
 
COLLINS CAREER NUMBERS       
Following the victory over South Dakota on Feb. 2, 2023, head coach Jory Collins earned his 250th career win. He has currently amassed a 276-129 overall record spanning 14 seasons. He notched a 199-58 mark during eight seasons at Emporia State. Collins has posted a 77-71 mark at NDSU over six seasons. His 77 wins at NDSU rank as the second-most in Bison history behind Amy Ruley (671 wins).
 
NEXT UP
NDSU will continue its homestand hosting Jamestown on Friday, Nov. 15. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m., at Scheels Center.