FARGO, N.D. – 268 days separated the end of the 2019-20 season and the beginning of the 2020-21 season for the North Dakota State University women’s basketball team.
NDSU lost to South Dakota State 76-56 in the Summit League semifinals on March 9, 2020, from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. On Wednesday night from the Scheels Center, the Bison defeated Northern Iowa 85-68 in the season-opener and looked like a well-oiled machine at times.
The Bison built their lead after a 10-0 run was capped off by a Ryan Cobbins three-point play, giving NDSU a 20-8 advantage with 2:39 in the first quarter.
NDSU held a 42-26 halftime advantage thanks to 17-34 shooting from the floor and going 4-7 from the three-point line.
It was a well-balanced effort said NDSU head Jory Collins.”Four people in double figures, I thought it was spread out pretty good. Everybody that played made a pretty good contribution.”
Heaven Hamling and Emily Dietz scored a game-high 20 points each for the Bison. It was a career-high for Hamling who sat out last year after transferring from Stephen F. Austin.
Cobbins and Reneya Hopkins chipped in 11 points each and Hopkins added 4 assists.
“She’s always just been a sparkplug out on the floor,” said Collins on the play of Hopkins. “That’s what I was hoping she would bring to our team is some athleticism and craftiness and just some different style of play that we don’t have or see in the league a whole bunch.”
UP NEXT
UNI (1-2 overall) travels to Wichita, Kansas for a date with the Wichita State Shockers on Sunday.
NDSU (1-0 overall) is scheduled to host back-to-back games against Green Bay on Saturday and Sunday from the Scheels Center.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
UNI defeated NDSU 95-63 in the season-opening game last season for the Bison from Cedar Falls, Iowa on November 6, 2019.
Bison senior forward Emily Dietz said the team’s confidence has changed a lot since then. “I mean as a group we came into this game expecting to win, we came in with the confidence that we can beat these guys and I think that’s shown the way everyone has played individually and collectively too as a group.”
“We couldn’t guard these guys last year at all, and we had several young players come in and play what I thought was really good defense,” said Collins.
FANS IN STANDS
Fans will be allowed in the stands on December 16 against North Dakota with a maximum capacity set at 1,000 in attendance. This weekend’s games against Green Bay will be limited to family members on a team pass list.
BOX SCORE
UNI 15 11 17 25 68
NDSU 25 17 17 26 85
Individual Scoring
UNI: Kroeger 13, Green 12, Finley 11, Rucker 11, Maahs 9, Gunnels 5, Wolf 4, Barney 3.
NDSU: Dietz 20, Hamling 20, Cobbins 11, Hopkins 11, Gaislerova 7, Schulte 5, Skibiel 5, Olson 4, Strop 2.
(Heaven Hamling and Emily Dietz postgame press conference)
