Bison Sports Update: February 13th

I accidentally took a weekend off, so there is lots of cool Bison updates to cover!

Men's Basketball
The NDSU Men's Basketball had an interesting couple of weeks. When I had last left off, they were coming home for a 3-game homestand. Well that homestand ended with a 3-0 sweep. Now, the Omaha and Denver games were a little closer then Coach Richman would have liked but they are wins. It seems the team hasn't quite found their groove yet, it is about time they do. Then they played South Dakota on Monday for a makeup game from January 1st. It was a back and forth game until the Bison offense went cold early in the 2nd half. But NDSU roared back to win the game with Sam Griesel's first points in the final seconds of the game. It is NDSU's first sweep of USD since the 2019-20 season. Then the Bison hit the road for two of their last three road games of the regular season. On Thursday they faced off against Western Illinois. Last time they played the Leathernecks, they lost in overtime as they fell flat on their face. It didn't go much different. While it was back and forth in the first half, the Bison drew a 17 point lead in the second half before Western came back and forced overtime. But the Bison held pat, and forced a second overtime. In that second extra frame, the Bison pulled off the win as WIU missed a crucial 3-pointer in the closing seconds. NDSU finished off the week with a solid win in St. Paul against D1 newcomer St. Thomas. While the game was close for most of the 2nd half, the Bison pulled away in the final 2 minutes to win 75-64. 

This week NDSU comes home for their final two home games of the season. They will host 2nd-place Oral Roberts on Thursday at 7 PM, and 4th place Kansas City on Saturday for Senior Day at 1 PM. 

NDSU is currently vying for the elusive 2nd place finish to get a top 2 seed in the conference tournament. While they sit currently at 3rd place, they are only a half game back from Oral Roberts, and play them on Thursday. The team controls their own destiny from now until the tournament.

North Dakota State Men's Basketball is 11-4 in Summit League play and 19-8 on the season.

Women's Basketball
NDSU Women's Basketball had a rough go of things lately. The Bison went on a road trip to Omaha and Denver. They beat Omaha 69-53 and lost to Denver 48-62. Then they came home to play Western Illinois and St. Thomas. They tussled with the Leathernecks but were unable to pull back from an 18 point deficit and lost to WIU, 59-61. On Saturday, the Bison recovered and were able to down St. Thomas 69-60.

NDSU will hit the road once more to take on Oral Roberts in Tulsa on Thursday. Then on Saturday, they close out their regular season road slate in Kansas City against the Roos. The Bison currently sit at 6th in the conference standings. It is very unlikely they reach any higher, but they need to keep winning to hold their spot.

NDSU Women's Basketball is 6-9 in Summit League play and 10-15 on the season.

Softball
NDSU Softball has begun their season! They kicked it off in Santa Barbara, California. They battled with Utah State and UC Santa Barbara this weekend. While the Bison won the first two games on Friday, first one 10-3, and second one 17-2 in 6 innings. On Saturday, the team fell both times by 2 runs or less. Losing the first to Utah State, 4-6, and the second to UCSB 3-4. On Sunday the Bison finished off their opening weekend with a 15-9 win over Utah State.

NDSU will now prepare for the Gata Challenge down in Statesboro, Georgia. They will take on Maine and Georgia Southern (the host) twice, and UT Martin once. The weekend action begins on Friday at 9 AM.

North Dakota State Softball is 3-2 on the season.

Baseball
NDSU Baseball will begin their season on Friday down in Abilene, Texas. They will play a three game series against Abilene Christian from Friday to Saturday, starting at 4:05 PM on Friday. After that they will play another weekend series the following weekend in Utah against D1 newcomer Dixie State. In March, the team will begin by travelling to Long Beach, California to play Long Beach State for a three game series, the Friday and Sunday games will be broadcast on ESPN+. The Bison will then return before travelling a short distance to Minneapolis for a game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at their winter home of US Bank Stadium. After that the team will travel to Orlando, Flordia for the Russmatt Central Florida Invitational to play Maine for a three game series. With very little remaining time in March, the team will play Florida Atlantic and Florida Gulf Coast while in Florida. Then the Bison will play their last early season non-conference series in Port Charlotte, Florida against Fairfield in the Snowbird Classic. Then the Bison will begin Summit League play.

​Go Bison!!