No. 6 Seed Bison Women Open With No. 3 Seed South Dakota at The Summit League Tournament

complete release attached

No. 6 seed North Dakota State (10-18, 6-10 Summit League) is scheduled to play No. 3 seed University of South Dakota (15-14, 10-6 Summit League) at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 10, in the opening round of The Summit League tournament at the Sioux Falls Arena  (6,300) ... Tournament and single-session tickets are available on Ticketmaster.com or by calling toll free 1-800-745-3000 ... Both teams are 1-0 at neutral sites ... South Dakota was third in The Summit League and the Bison were seventh in the league standings ... North Dakota State ranks 19th in the NCAA in turnovers per game (13.5 avg/g) and challenging the school record of 13.9 avg/g set by the 1994-95 team ... NDSU is averaged 12.2 turnovers per game in league play ... The Bison are 20th in free throw shooting, hitting 307 of 406 attempts for 75.6 percent ... NDSU is challenging the school record of 74.8 percent (659-881) set by the 1994-95 team ... Senior Katie Birkel ranks 9th on the NDSU scoring list with 1,431 .... Next up, No. 8 Kim Brekke (1450, 1980-84) ... Senior Dani DeGagne became the 30th player to reach 1,000 points at Western Illinois and enters Saturday at No. 29 with 1,064 ... Next up, No. 28 Leah Klabo (1070, 2002-05) ... DeGagne was the league's co-Player of the Week the last two weeks of the regular season.

The Summit League Tournament (Sioux Falls, S.D.)
Saturday, March 9 (Quarterfinals)
G1: (1) South Dakota State vs. (8) Oakland, Noon [Midco Sports Net / FCS Atlantic]
G2: (2) IUPUI vs. (7) Kansas City, 2:30 p.m. [Midco Sports Net / FCS Atlantic]
Sunday, March 10 (Quarterfinals)
G3: (4) Fort Wayne vs. (5) Western Illinois, Noon [Midco Sports Net / FCS Atlantic]
G4: (3) South Dakota vs. (6) North Dakota State, 2:30 p.m. [Midco Sports Net / FCS Atlantic]
Monday, March 11 (Semifinals)
G5: G1 (1/8) winner vs. G3 (4/5) winner, Noon [Midco Sports Net / FCS Atlantic]
G6: G2 (2/7) winner vs. G4 (3/6) winner, 2:30 p.m. [Midco Sports Net / FCS Atlantic]
Tuesday, March 12 (Final)
G7: G5 winner vs. G6 winner, 2:30 p.m. [ESPNU/Watch ESPN]
Midco Sports Net: Analysts: Jay Elsen (PxP), Greg Stemen (Color), Steve Hallstrom (Sideline)
ESPNU: Analysts: Melissa Lee (PxP), Steffi Sorensen (Color)

The Series
This will be the 60th meeting between North Dakota State and South Dakota ... NDSU leads the series 41-18 ... The teams split the regular season series ... North Dakota State won 57-50 on Feb. 2 in Vermillion ... Katie Birkel scored 24 points and Dani DeGagne netted 17 for NDSU, while Nicole Seekamp led the Coyotes with 19 ... USD defeated the Bison 73-52 on Jan. 3 in Fargo ... Seekamp led the Coyotes with a game-high 20 points, while DeGagne had 17 points for NDSU ... NDSU is 1-4 in The Summit League tournament -- (2009 -- Western Illinois, W 46-43 / Oakland, L 48-67; 2010 -- Kansas City, L 75-76 OT; 2011 -- South Dakota State, L 51-62; 2012 -- IUPUI, L 64-80) ... North Dakota State has defeated South Dakota in two of three meetings in the NCAA Division II Regional, and won both games played in the North Central Conference’s Wells Fargo Finals tournament.

Hoops for Hannah
http://www.facebook.com/BisonNationHelpingHannah
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/hannahlinz
North Dakota State senior guard Hannah Linz experienced a recurrence of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and is going through treatment ... NDSU student-athletes have rallied for Hannah and are asking for goodwill donations ... Over $28,200 has been raised entering this week ... 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 ... A free will spaghetti dinner and silent auction raised $7,300 on March 4, at the NDSU Alumni Center ... NDSU student-athletes also sold Hoops For Hannah Raffle tickets for $5 at several games ... This year’s “Battle of the Cent-es” between NDSU’s College of Pharmacy, Nursing, & Allied Sciences Ambassadors and the College of Engineering & Architecture Ambassadors was held Feb. 11-15 raised $2,232.76 and was donated to “Hoops for Hannah” ... Linz has donated about 12 inches of her hair to Locks of Love ... 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 ... 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 has continued working to complete her education at NDSU and graduate with a degree in nursing.

At Home With the Bison
North Dakota State has compiled a 407-75 (.844) record at home, including a 104-36 mark inside the “Friendly Confines” over the past 10 seasons good for a .743 winning percentage ... NDSU was 7-7 at home this season ... The Bison averaged 791 fans over 14 home dates this season including a season high 2,709 against North Dakota on Nov. 30.

Bison On Radio
Sunday’s game with South Dakota will be on KFGO-AM 790 ... Veteran sports announcer Scott Miller will describe the play-by-play and NDSU director of athletic sales and broadcasting Jeremy Jorgenson will provde the color analysis ... Pregame starts at 2:10 p.m. on Sunday with a 2:30 p.m. tip-off ... Monday’s game would be on KRWK 101.9 FM and Tuesday’s game on  740 AM THE FAN ... 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 6-7 p.m.

Bison In The Summit League Statistics
North Dakota State was represented in the Summit League statistics released March 3, 2013 (league games only) ... Individually in the top 10, Dani DeGagne is 1st in rebounding (8.7 rpg), tied for 3rd in steals (2.2 spg), tied for 5th in assists (3.7 apg), 6th in assist/turnover ratio (1.3), 7th in scoring (15.4 ppg) and free throw shooting (.803, 53-66), and 8th in minutes played (35.9 avg/g); Katie Birkel is 4th in assist/turnover ratio (1.7), 5th in minutes played (37.6 avg/g), 6th in scoring (15.5 ppg), 7th in assists (3.4 apg), and 9th in free throw shooting (.760, 38-50) and three-pointers made (1.5 avg/g), and Marena Whittle is 4th in rebounding (7.3 rpg) and 10th in blocked shots (0.7 bpg) ... Team-wise (top three), the Bison are third in turnover margin (+1/1) and assist/turnover ratio (1.0).

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 9th on the all-time scoring list with 1,431 points ... She is averaging 12.5 points per game during her career ... Birkel has started all 115 games played, 5th all-time ... She is 1st in minutes played per game (33.9 avg/g); 4th in three-point field goals attempted (420); 5th in three-point field goals made (136); 6th in field goals attempted (1357); 7th in assists per game (3 apg); 8th in assists (351), defensive rebounds (334) and steals per game (1.7 spg); tied for 8th in steals (196), and 9th in points and scoring average ... Birkel has played 3,902 minutes over 115 games ... She ranks third among active Summit League players in points and tops in assists.