Bison come close to pulling off shocking rally against Gophers

NDSU erased a 14-point deficit after three quarters and took a brief lead before falling 69-65 in the WNIT Super 16 at Williams Arena. The Gophers scored the last seven points of the game to squash NDSU’s stirring rally.

As brilliant as the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter were for the Bison, they couldn’t finish the deal. When NDSU looks back at this season, that was a glaring issue against its best competition, with three losses to South Dakota State all being decided late in the game.

“Obviously disappointed in the outcome but I thought we played well enough in the fourth quarter to give ourselves a chance,” said NDSU head coach Jory Collins. “I’m really proud of that effort. I couldn’t have been more happy how we chose to finish the game in the fourth quarter.”

NDSU has scaled some levels this season, reaching 22 victories and the Summit League tournament title game. Beating a Big Ten Conference opponent would have been icing on that cake.

A 13-0 run to open the fourth quarter was perhaps the best five minutes of NDSU’s season considering the opponent.

“We had some players hit some big-time shots and gave ourselves a chance,” Collins said.

The Bison had their chances. Leading 66-65, the Gophers forced a turnover on NDSU guard Abby Schulte, which turned into two Niamya Holloway free throws with 11 seconds left. That meant the Bison needed a 3-pointer to tie.

Heaven Hamling’s deep trey attempt hit the rim and bounced off and the Bison couldn’t corral the rebound. Amaya Battle was fouled and her free throw sealed it.

What could have been. Still, the Bison can take some momentum into the offseason after outscoring the Gophers 21-11 in the final 10 minutes.

Trailing 58-44 after three, the Bison ripped off nine straight to make a game of it. They took their first lead on two Elle Evans free throws with 3:15 left, which made it 63-62.

Hamling followed with two more free throws and it was 65-62 at 2:18. The Bison had a chance to extend that but ran into a shot clock violation. It was around then Battle took the game into her hands.

“You have to have good body language,” Battle said. “If you show that you’re confident, then you’re going to believe you’re confident.”

Her jumper cut the Bison lead to one. After Evans missed from just inside the free throw line, another Battle jumper gave Minnesota a 66-65 lead with 35 seconds left. The Gophers had just three field goals in the fourth quarter, but Battle was there to rescue her team.

“I’ve been watching her do that for seven years I feel like, since AAU ball, just a terrific stop and pop shooter,” Collins said. “Those are tough and she’s really good at it. That’s her game, she’s terrific at that.”

The Gophers were terrific in the third quarter and took that 14-point lead heading to the final 10 minutes.

“I think we were confident in ourselves, like we’re still in this,” Evans said. “We just continued to play with our heart out and I’m just super proud of the comeback this team had in the fourth. It shows a lot about this group. Just sad we couldn’t pull it out.”

Evans started the frame with a jumper. Freshman Abby Krzewinski got the momentum rolling with a 3-pointer and a close-in bucket. Hamling added a field goal and it was a game at 58-53.

“When the ball is going in the hole, everything is good,” Evans said. “And we were laying stops on top of each other.

NDSU couldn’t pull it out against a Gophers team that had their best two players guard Mara Braun and center Sophie Hart back after injuries. Grace Grochlski led Minnesota with 16 points. The Bison held Braun, the team’s leading scorer, to 3 of 10 shooting and eight points.

Before the game, Gophers head coach Dawn Plitzuweit gave Hamling a hello gesture. After a convincing Minnesota win over the Bison in November, Plitzuweit told her she was glad never to have to coach against Hamling again.

“What I should have learned in the world of coaching to never say never,” Plitzuweit said. “This (Bison) team has really good size, really good length. They have a really good blend of some veteran players and some young talented ladies so I’m not surprised they’re knocking on the door.”

On Good Friday, the Bison couldn’t knock that door down.

NDSU 12 30 44 65

UM 18 34 58 69

NDSU (22-12): Draper 4-7 0-0 8, Hamling 3-12 2-2 9, Evans 6-8 4-5 18, Schulte 1-4 4-4 6, Krzewinski 3-5 0-0 7, Mackenzie 0-0 0-0 0, Koenen 1-5 0-0 2, Simon 6-9 0-0 12, Graham 1-1 1-2 3, T. Hamling 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-52 11-14 65.UM (18-15): Heyer 5-11 2-2 13, Grocholski 5-11 2-2 16, Hart 5-9 0-0 10, Battle 5-16 1-2 11, Braun 3-10 0-0 8, Holloway 2-5 2-2 6, Czinano 0-0 0-0 0, Sanders 1-4 3-6 5. Totals: 26-66 10-14 69.Total fouls: NDSU 14, UM 12. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: NDSU 30 (Evans 6); UM 40 (Heyer 12). 3-point goals: NDSU 4-15 (H. Hamling 1-6, Evans 2-3, Krzewinski 1-2, Koenen 0-1, Simon 0-2, T. Hamling 0-1); UM 7-19 (Heyer 1-5, Grocholski 4-8, Battle 0-1, Braun 2-5). Assists: NDSU 13 (Schulte 3); UM 16 (Battle 5). Turnovers: NDSU 13 (five with 2); UM 11 (Battle 4). A-2,367.