NDSU Womens Basketball Continues Road Swing in Green Bay

THIS WEEK

The North Dakota State (6-3) women’s basketball team continues its road trip at Green Bay (4-3, 1-1 Horizon) on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 PM in the Kress Center.

GAME COVERAGE

Radio: Andy Rieckhoff (play-by-play) is here Bison 1660.

See: Competition is available ESPN+ to subscribers.

GoBison.com: Live Stats, Audio and Video Links are available at GoBison.com.

BISON’S QUICK PICKERS

• The Bison have dropped their last three games and enter the weekend with a 6-3 overall record.
• NDSU lost at Northern Iowa on Tuesday night 79-70.
• This will be the Bison’s sixth straight road game and third straight week on the road. NDSU is 2-3 in road games this season.
• Green Bay enters the weekend with a 4-3 overall record (1-1 Horizon) and most recently an 81-76 win over IUPUI.
• Phoenix have played just one of their home games this season and have played all five of their last matches away from home.
• For the second week in a row, NDSU appeared in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll at No. 23.
• This is the ninth all-time meeting between NDSU and Green Bay dating back to 2006. Phoenix leads the series 6-2.
• Elle Evans has scored in double figures in each of his last six games, including a season-high 17 points at Central Michigan.
• Emily Behnke has had a double-double in each of the last two games.
• Sky Hamling has drained a team-high 21 3-pointers through the first eight games this season. She has totaled 145 triples over three seasons and is tied for fifth in Bison history with Katie Lorenz.

THE LAST TIME

NDSU fell short at Northern Iowa 79-70 on Tuesday night. Emily Behnke paced the Bison, posting his second straight double-double with a career-high 16 points and 10 rebounds. Sky Hamling added 14 points and went 6 of 6 from the free throw line Abby Schulte scored 11 points. Elle Evans also reached double figures in scoring for the sixth consecutive game with 12 points and a season-high eight rebounds.

COLLEGE INTERNAL CIRCUITS MIED-MAJOR TOP 25 VOLT

NDSU appeared in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll for the second straight week, ranked No. 23. This season marks the first time the Bison have been ranked in the poll since the 2020-21 season. Green Bay also gets votes in this week’s poll.

STACKING WINS

The Bison started the season with a 6-0 overall record before falling short at Eastern Michigan. It was the best start to the season since 2004-2005. NDSU began the 2004-05 season by winning its first 24 games to finish with a 26-1 overall record.

LIFE ON THE ROAD

NDSU is in the midst of a seven-game road swing that spans a total of four weeks. During this period, Bison will travel over 3,400 miles and visit four different states (Nevada, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin). It’s the longest road stretch for NDSU since the 2011-12 season, when the Bison also played seven straight at home.

CONNECTIONS
Emily Behnke is a native of Two Rivers, Wis., and attended Manitowoc Lutheran High School. He earned Honorable Mention All-State honors his junior and senior seasons. Kate Hildebrandt is also from McFarland, Wis. and attended McFarland High School. He was a three-time All-Conference selection and earned First Team honors in his junior season.

Abbie Draper and Green Bay guard Tatum Koenig were teammates for one season together at Bradley in 2021-22.

FIGHT FOR BALLS

NDSU had a season-high 48 rebounds at Northern Iowa, and eight different players had at least two. The Bison have grabbed 40 or more rebounds in five of the first nine games this season.

EAR DEFENSE

NDSU is averaging 4.7 blocks per game, which is third in the Summit League and 39th in the nation. The Bison had a season-high eight blocks against Valley City State and Eastern Michigan this season.

HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE
Sky Hamling he scored a career-high 39 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field and 7-of-12 from three in the win over Nevada. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native also went 10-10 from the free throw line and added six rebounds, three assists and one steal to his stat line.

His 39 points are tied for third all-time in a single game at NDSU and was the second 30-point performance of his career. Hamling is one of five players in the country to score 39 or more points in a single game this season. In addition, his seven triples against the Wolf Pack are tied for ninth in the nation in a single game this season.

1,000 CAREER POINTS NO. 11
Sky Hamling has surpassed the 1,000 career point milestone with 1,045 points. He started his career at Stephen F. Austin State in one season in 2018-19 and scored 174 points. Hamling has scored a total of 871 points over the past three seasons at NDSU.

HISTORY OF THE HAMLING CHASES
Sky Hamling enters the 2022-23 season with a chance to leave his name in NDSU history. He ranks in the top 10 in Bison history in scoring average (6th, 14.0), three-point field goals made (T5th, 145), three-point field goals made (3rd, .395) and free throw percentage (2nd, ). 889).

NOT PLAYING LIKE A FRESHMAN
Elle Evans is off to a fast start to his freshman season, starting all nine games and averaging 12.4 points per game. He has scored in double figures in each of his last six games, including a season-high 17 points at Central Michigan. During this period, he is averaging 13.5 points per game.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DOUBLE-DOUBLE

After failing to record a double-double in his first two seasons, Emily Behnke has had a double-double in each of the last two games. He had a career-high 16 points and 10 rebounds at Northern Iowa. Behnke had his first career double-double at Central Michigan with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

THE BROWN FITS RIGHT

In his first season at NDSU Taylor Brown has settled right to start in each of the first nine games. The Lakeville, Minn., native is averaging 9.4 points per game and has reached double figures in three games. Brown had his first double-double of the season with a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Minnesota.

PARTICIPATING FROM THE BENCH
Abbie Draper and Abby Graham have both come off the bench in all nine games this season. Draper is averaging 5.7 points per game and has reached double figures in scoring. Graham is averaging 5.0 points per game and scored a season-high 11 points in a win against Minnesota.

WHO IS RETURNING THIS YEAR?

The Bison return six letterwinners from last season, including three starters: Sky Hamling, Abby Schulte and Kate Hildebrandt.

WELCOME ABOARD

This season, there are eight newcomers on the list: Taylor Brown, Kristina Ekofo Yomane, Abbie Draper, Elle Evans, Marwa Bedziri, Abby Graham, Leah Mackenzie and Georgia Baldwin.

NEW, BUT LOTS OF EXPERIENCE

Three of the eight freshmen this season have played at least 10 NCAA games in their careers. Taylor Brown appeared in 95 games over four seasons with the American and Abbie Draper made 26 appearances and 15 starts in his freshman season at Bradley last year. Georgia Baldwin also appeared in 11 games at Eastern Kentucky over the past two seasons.

NEW LOOK PRODUCTION STAFF

NDSU’s coaching staff has taken on a new look this season with assistant coaches Jaime Adams and Michaela Crall. Adams is back for his second stint with the program after spending four seasons from 2008-2012 as an assistant coach. He also played at NDSU from 1997-01 and was inducted into the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.

Crall comes to NDSU after spending last season at Dubuque as an assistant coach. He also played at Wisconsin for three seasons from 2013-16 before beginning his coaching career as an undergraduate coach. Emily Dietzwho played at NDSU from 2017-22 and is the all-time games leader, returns as a graduate manager this season.

STARTING A NEW 3 POINT BITE

NDSU shot 1-9 from three at Kansas State last season, snapping a streak of 56 consecutive games in which the Bison have netted at least two triples. The Bison have rebounded and connected on at least two triples in each of their last 31 games.

NDSU has been putting together long 3-point streaks lately. The Bison went 0-14 from three-point range against Valparaiso in 2019-20, ending a streak of 113 consecutive games with at least two three-pointers.

ALL-SUMMIT LEAGUE FIRST TEAM
Sky Hamling named to the Preseason All-Summit League First Team. He started all 29 games last season and logged a team-high 34.4 minutes per contest. Hamling finished ninth in the Summit League with a team-best 14.3 points per game and reached double figures in 24 of 29 games. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native led the conference in three-point field goals made per game at 2.31 and three-point field goal percentage at 39.0 percent.

SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON BROADCASTING

NDSU was picked fifth in the Summit League Preseason Poll. South Dakota State collected 36 first-place votes, while South Dakota received four first-place votes for second. Oral Roberts rounded out the top three in third place.

BISON IN GREECE

Over the course of eight days, the Bison had the opportunity to practice, play two games and experience Greek culture during the August trip. NDSU spent the first four days in Athens before ending the trip in Glyfada.

SERIES vs. GREEN BAY

This is the ninth all-time meeting between NDSU and Green Bay dating back to 2006, with Phoenix leading the series 6-2. This is also the third straight season NDSU has faced Green Bay in a non-conference game. In their most recent meeting last season, the Bison fell short against Phoenix on the road 71-54. Sky Hamling registered a team-high 20 points, while Abby Schulte came off the bench and added six points.

LOOK AHEAD

NDSU wraps up non-conference play at Mayville State on Wednesday, December 14th. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m