Bison Women Travel to Western Illinois, IUPUI

complete release attached

North Dakota State (9-15, 5-7 Summit League) is scheduled to travel and play at Western Illinois (10-13, 3-7 Summit League) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, at Waste Management Court ... NDSU defeated Oakland and lost to Fort Wayne last week ... The Bison are in sixth place in the league standings, the Fighting Leathernecks are eighth ... North Dakota State is scheduled to  travel and play at IUPUI (14-9, 7-3 Summit League) at 2 p.m. (CT) Saturday, Feb. 16, in The Jungle ... The Jaguars are second in the league standings ... North Dakota State ranks 17th in the NCAA in free throw shooting, hitting 267 of 352 attempts for 75.9 percent ... The Bison are 12th in turnovers per game (13.5 avg/g) ... NDSU is averaging 11.7 turnovers per game in league play ... Senior Katie Birkel ranks 11th on the NDSU scoring list with 1,378 .... Next up, No. 10 Katie Lorenz (1411, 2003-06) ... Senior Dani DeGagne enters the Western Illinois game with 998 career points, bidding to become the 30th women’s basketball player to reach 1,000 points.

The Series
This will be the 13th meeting between North Dakota State and Western Illinois ... The Bison lead the series 8-4 ... The Fighting Leathernecks won 85-83 on Jan. 19, in Fargo ... Katie Birkel scored 23 points, while Dani DeGagne added seven rebounds ... This will be the 13th meeting between North Dakota State and IUPUI ... NDSU leads the series 8-4 ... The Bison won 71-68 on Jan. 17, in Fargo ... Marena Whittle scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.

Hoops for Hannah
http://www.facebook.com/BisonNationHelpingHannah
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/hannahlinz
North Dakota State senior guard Hannah Linz has experienced a recurrence of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and has begun treatment ... NDSU student-athletes have rallied for Hannah and are asking for goodwill donations ... Approximately $10,000, which was the original goal, has been raised entering this weekend ... The offerings can be placed in a “Hoops for Hannah” basket during remaining home events ... Donations can be made directly to the Hannah Linz Fund, c/o Gate City Bank, 500 2nd Ave. N., Fargo, N.D. 58102, or in person at any Gate City Bank location ... Linz was originally diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma on April 8, 2010, following her freshman season with the Bison ... “We have witnessed firsthand Hannah’s fight to beat it the first time and see this setback as nothing different in her approach to win the battle with cancer this time,” said head coach Carolyn DeHoff. “We ask that you keep her in your thoughts and prayers and respect Hannah’s privacy at this time.” ... Linz played in 100 games for the Bison since the start of the 2009-10 season, averaging 6.5 points per game ... Linz is No. 2 all-time at NDSU with 156 three-pointers made ... She is a three-time selection to the Summit League All-Academic Team ... Linz plans to complete her education at NDSU and graduate with a degree in nursing.

Bison On Radio
Thursday’s Western Illinois game will be on 740 AM The Fan, Fargo ... Saturday’s game with IUPUI will be on KFGO-AM 790 ... Radio Fargo Moorhead Sports Director Jack Michaels will handle the call for both games ... Pregame starts at 6:40 p.m. with a 7 p.m. tip-off on Thursday ... Pregame starts at 1:40 p.m. Saturday with a 2 p.m. tip-off ... There is a 20 minute-pregame and a 20-minute postgame ... Scott Miller hosts Bison Feedback on KFGO-AM 790 featuring women’s basketball coach Carolyn DeHoff and men’s basketball coach Saul Phillips on Mondays 7-8 p.m.

Bison In The Summit League Statistics
North Dakota State was represented in the Summit League statistics released Feb. 11, 2013 (league games only) ... Individually in the top 10, Dani DeGagne is 3rd in rebounding (7.8 rpg), 4th in steals (2.3 spg), tied for 5th in assists (3.7 apg), and 7th in scoring (15 ppg), free throw shooting (.808, 42-52) and assist/turnover ratio (1.4), and minutes played (35.2 avg/g); Katie Birkel is 4th in scoring (16.3 ppg), 5th in minutes played (37.6 avg/g) and assist/turnover ratio (1.6), and 10th in assists (3.2 apg), and Marena Whittle is 2nd in rebounding (7.8 rpg) and 10th in steals (1.8 spg) ... Team-wise (top three), the Bison are 3rd in turnover margin (+1.8 avg/g) and assist/turnover margin (1.1).

Birkel Moving Up Career Charts
North Dakota State 5-foot-8 senior Katie Birkel is moving up the career charts ... Birkel, who missed last season due to a knee injury, has moved up to 11th on the all-time scoring list with 1,378 points ... She is averaging 12.4 points per game during her career ... Birkel has started all 111 games played, 5th all-time ... She is 1st in minutes played per game (33.8 avg/g); 4th in three-point field goals attempted (400); 5th in three-point field goals made (128); 7th in field goals attempted (1305); 8th in assists (334), assists per game (3 avg/g) and steals per game (1.7 spg); 9thh in scoring average, and 10th in steals (192) ... Birkel has played 3,751 minutes over 111 games ... She ranks third among active Summit League players in points and tops in assists.

Bison Coaches Corner
Bison Coaches Corner featuring women’s basketball coach Carolyn DeHoff and men’s basketball coach Saul Phillips can be seen weekly during The Summit League season exclusively on GoBison.com ... The show feature game footage and call of the game (home weekends), player features and analysis from both Phillips and DeHoff ... Bison Coaches Corner is hosted by NDSU director of athletic broadcasting/sales Jeremy Jorgenson and directed by Ryan Nelson, a senior broadcast journalism major from Roseau, Minn.