Bison earn 1st Women's NIT victory, advance to Super 16

First Women's NIT victory. Check.

Junior forward Abbie Draper scored 18 points and added seven rebounds to help lift the Bison to a 72-63 victory against Montana on Monday night in the second round of the WNIT before 2,254 fans at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex.

“They’re stepping stones to get to the level you want to get to," said Bison head coach Jory Collins.

The Bison (22-11) earned the first postseason victory of their Division I era outside of the Summit League conference tournament. NDSU last played a home postseason game in 2000 in the NCAA Division II North Central regional.

“It was an amazing environment," said Bison sophomore guard Elle Evans.

The Bison advanced to the third round or Super 16 which is set for Wednesday through Friday for potential dates and next play the winner of the Minnesota and Pacific game, which is slated for 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

“It’s always good to keep on playing," Draper said. “It shows that our program is moving forward every year.”

The 6-foot-2 Draper said she took a shoulder going for a rebound that caused a cut in her mouth early in the second half. Evans marveled that Draper played through the cut.

"She said she was swallowing blood," Evans said.

"The whole third quarter," added Draper, who had four points and five rebounds in the third quarter.

Draper helped the Bison deliver a knockout blow in the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies cut the NDSU lead to 64-59 after sophomore guard Mack Konig sank two foul shots with 5 minutes, 25 seconds remaining.

The Bison countered with eight of the next nine points. Draper had four points during that stretch, including a basket off a rebound for a 72-60 lead with 1:01 remaining.

“We stayed sharp in practice for these two weeks we had off," Draper said. "We work hard in practice and we’re big competitors. ... The longer we can play, the better.”

The 6-foot-3 Evans scored 10 points in the first half to help the Bison build a five-point halftime lead. NDSU shot 44% (12 of 27) in the opening 20 minutes coming off a nearly two-week layoff.

“I was really proud of our group, the way they came out with poise," Collins said.

NDSU led by as many as six points in the first half and took a 35-30 lead after senior guard Heaven Hamling sank a 3-pointer with 54 seconds to play in the second quarter. The score remained there into the half.

The Bison never trailed in the second half and held the lead for nearly 36 of the game's 40 minutes.

“I think we would give anything to play another game in the SHAC," Evans said.

UM 15 30 50 63

NDSU 16 35 55 72

UM (23-10): Gfeller 3-8 1-2 7, Bartsch 1-3 1-2 3, Konig 3-13 4-4 11, Espenmiller-McGraw 5-10 2-2 16, Marxen 8-17 2-2 24, Bruno 0-3 0-0 0, Lincoln 1-2 0-0 2, Huard 0-0 0-0 0, Pirog 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 10-12 63.

NDSU (22-11): Draper 6-11 6-6 18, H. Hamling 2-9 2-2 7, Evans 6-10 2-2 17, Schulte 4-9 4-4 12, Krzewinski 3-11 0-1 7, Koenen 4-8 1-1 9, Simon 0-3 2-2 2, Mackenzie 0-0 0-0 0, Graham 0-0 0-0 0, T. Hamling 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 17-18 72.

3-point goals: UM 11-24 (Gfeller 0-1, Bartsch 0-2, Konig 1-3, Espenmiller-McGraw 4-6, Marxen 6-12), NDSU 5-16 (Draper 0-1, H. Hamling 1-5, Evans 3-4, Schulte 0-1, Krzewinski 1-3, Simon 0-1, T. Hamling 0-1). Total fouls: UM 21, NDSU 12. Fouled out: Geller. Rebounds: UM 25 (Bartsch 13), NDSU 46 (Krzewinski 8). Assists: UM 9 (Bartsch 3), NDSU 13 (Schulte 5). Turnovers: UM 7, NDSU 10.