Bison Women Finish Strong to Beat Centenary

SHREVEPORT, La.--Whitney Trecker hit a pair of three-pointers and came up with a key steal late as North Dakota State finished strong to defeat Centenary College 71-62 in a Summit League women's basketball game played Monday, Feb. 7, before 209 spectators in the Gold Dome.

North Dakota State (11-12, 6-6 Summit) is scheduled to host IUPUI (3-19, 1-11 Summit) at 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, in the Bison Sports Arena in the annual "Pink Zone" game sponsored by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. The Jaguars lost 84-59 to IPFW on Monday night.

Hannah Linz found Janae Burich inside to put NDSU up 60-58 with 6:30 remaining. The Bison defense held Centenary scoreless for over five of the game's final seven minutes. Trecker hit a pair of three-pointers down the stretch and came up with a steal.

North Dakota State outscored the Ladies 11-4 over the final 6:47. Along with Trecker's pair of treys, Abby Plucker nailed a jumper and two free throws, while Megan Shea also made 1 of 2 free throws.

NDSU led at halftime 39-33 and couldn't shake Centenary (0-20, 0-13 Summit). The Ladies were led by Anne Farrell, who scored her team's first seven points and 10 of her game-high 19 points in the opening half. Farrell had nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Ashley Jackson took over for Farrell in the second half and scored 13 of her final 18 points in the second half.

Winless Centenary did take a 54-53 lead with 10:05 left on a three-pointer by Ne-Ne Cook. The game was tied twice after that, the last time at 58-all on an Ashley Jackson drive with 6:47 remaining.

Katie Birkel scored 12 of her 15 points in the first half. The Bison shot 51.7 percent in the first half compared to 48 percent for Centenary. NDSU made 7 of 16 three-pointers, but the Ladies made 5 of 9 from beyond the arc.

Birkel came up with two key steals and hit 4 of 6 field goals in the period including 3 of 5 from the three-point line. She moved up to No. 29 on the NDSU career scoring list with 966 points.

Five players scored in double-figures for NDSU. Joining Birkel and Trecker were Plucker, who finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds, Burich, who netted 12 points, and Linz, who added 11 points. Plucker recorded her eighth "double-double" of the season and her fifth over the last 10 games. Birkel and Trecker each recorded four assists.

North Dakota State hit 50.9 percent from the field including 44 percent from three-point compared to 43.6 percent for Centenary. Each team had 32 rebounds and scored 10 points off of turnovers. NDSU had 11 turnovers and Ladies made 12.