Bison Women Host Omaha on Saturday

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Bison Women Host Omaha
North Dakota State (9-17, 5-9 Summit League) is scheduled to host Omaha (16-8, 6-6 Summit League) at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, at the Bison Sports Arena ... Saturday’s game has been designated as the Katherine Burgum Classic (see next paragraph) and Alumni Night ... The Mavericks have won two of their last three games ... Omaha is 5-4 on the road this season, 2-4 in league play ... The Mavericks are in fifth place and the Bison are seventh in the league standings ... Omaha is not eligible for the league tournament ... North Dakota State ranks 13th in the NCAA in turnovers per game (13.5 avg/g) ... NDSU is averaging 11.9 turnovers per game in league play ... The Bison are 21st in free throw shooting, hitting 282 of 373 attempts for 75.6 percent ... Senior Katie Birkel ranks 11th on the NDSU scoring list with 1,399 .... Next up, No. 10 Katie Lorenz (1411, 2003-06) ... Senior Dani DeGagne became the 30th player to reach 1,000 points at Western Illinois and enters Saturday with 1,024 points.

Katherine Burgum Classic
The Katherine Burgum Classic was NDSU athletics’ gift for Katherine “K.” Kilbourne Burgum’s 90th birthday, recognizing her dedication and commitment to young women on campus, the Fargo-Moorhead community and the region ... The Bison are 4-2 in the Classic with wins over Minnesota (62-48, 12-22-06, 3,543 att), Montana State (82-59, 12-30-07, 1,492 att), Western Illinois (52-46, 1-10-09, 1,576 att) and IPFW (64-52, 1-23-10, 835 att) ... The losses came to Oakland (48-60, 1-22-11, 2,120 att) and South Dakota State (52-88, 1-20-12, 1,788 at) ... Lisa Bue was a two-time NDSU MVP in the game in 2006 and 2007, while Whitney Trecker earned the honor in 2009, Katie Birkel in 2010, Abby Plucker in 2011 and Danielle Muri in 2012 ... Opponent MVPs -- Ashley Ellis-Milan (Minnesota), Nubia Garcia (Montana State), Katy Clark (Western Illinois), Sydney Weinert (IPFW), Bethany Watterworth (Oakland) and Ashley Eide (South Dakota State).

The Series
This will be the 52nd meeting between North Dakota State and Omaha ... The Bison lead the series 41-10 ... Both teams were members of the North Central Conference ... The teams hadn’t played since the 2003-04 season, NDSU’s last year at Division II ... Omaha won the first meeting 61-52 on Jan. 24 at Sapp Fieldhouse ... Paige Frauendorfer netted 25 points for the Mavericks, while Carolyn Blair-Mobley and Jamie Nash each had nine rebounds ... Katie Birkel scored 15 points and Marena Whittle had eight rebounds for NDSU.

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 is continuing treatment ... NDSU student-athletes have rallied for Hannah and are asking for goodwill donations ... Over $13,200 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 ... 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 plans to complete her education at NDSU and graduate with a degree in nursing.

At Home With the Bison
North Dakota State has compiled a 406-74 (.846) record at home, including a 103-35 mark inside the “Friendly Confines” over the past 10 seasons good for a .746 winning percentage ... NDSU is 6-6 at home this season ... The Bison are averaging 684 fans over 12 home dates this season including a season high 2,709 against North Dakota on Nov. 30.

Bison On Radio
Saturday’s game with Omaha will be on 740 AM The Fan ... Radio Fargo Moorhead Sports Director Jack Michaels will handle the call ... Pregame starts at 6:40 p.m. on Saturday with a 7 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. 18, 2013 (league games only) ... Individually in the top 10, Dani DeGagne is 1st in rebounding (8.3 rpg), 3rd in steals (2.4 spg), 7th in scoring (14.7 ppg), assists (3.4 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.3), and 8th in free throw shooting (.793, 46-58) and minutes played (35.4 avg/g); Katie Birkel is 4th in scoring (15.4 ppg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.7), 5th in minutes played (37.4 avg/g) and 8th in assists (3.4 apg), and Marena Whittle is 3rd in rebounding (7.4 rpg) ... Team-wise (top three), the Bison are 2nd in turnover margin (+2.0 avg/g) 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 11th on the all-time scoring list with 1,399 points ... She is averaging 12.4 points per game during her career ... Birkel has started all 113 games played, 5th all-time ... She is 1st in minutes played per game (33.8 avg/g); 4th in three-point field goals attempted (405); 5th in three-point field goals made (129); 6th in field goals attempted (1333); 7th in assists per game (3 apg); 8th in assists (343), defensive rebounds (327) and steals per game (1.7 spg); tied for 8th in steals (196), and 9th in scoring average ... Birkel has played 3,824 minutes over 113 games ... She ranks third among active Summit League players in points and tops in assists.