THIS WEEK         
The North Dakota State (1-2) women’s basketball team travels to Northern Colorado (2-1) on Monday night. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. CT at Bank of Colorado Arena.
 
GAME COVERAGE
Watch: The contest will be available on ESPN+ for subscribers.
 
Radio: Andy Rieckhoff (play-by-play) will be on the call on Bison 1660.
 
GoBison.com: Live statistics, audio and video links are available on GoBison.com.
 
BISON QUICK HITS         

• NDSU enters the week with a 1-2 overall record.
• The Bison most recently fell short at Minnesota on Wednesday night, 75-53.
• This will be the second straight season NDSU and Northern Colorado play each other after the Bison edged the Bears in Fargo last season, 68-54.
• This will mark the first time NDSU has traveled to Northern Colorado since the 2012-13 season when the Bears snuck past the Bison, 75-61. However, NDSU holds a 13-3 mark all-time against Northern Coloardo on the road.
• NDSU is ranked No. 25 in the latest edition of the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll on Nov. 13. The Bison debuted at No. 24 in the preseason poll.
• Heaven Hamling has surpassed 200 career three-pointers and ranks third in Bison history with 204 over four seasons. She’s six triples away from passing Michelle Gaislerova (2017-21) for second place with 210.
• Elle Evans has hit double figures in each of the first three games this season extending her double digit scoring streak to 17 games dating back to last season. She closed her freshman season with 14 straight double figure scoring efforts.
• NDSU posted its most wins in a single-season since 2004-05 with an 18-12 (12-6 Summit) overall record and advanced to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) for the first time in program history last season.
• NDSU enters the season picked second in the Summit League Preseason Coaches’ Poll, which is the highest ranking since joining the conference in 2007-08.
• Heaven Hamling and Elle Evans were also both selected to the Preseason All-Summit League First Team making NDSU the only team in the conference to have multiple first team selections.

LAST TIME OUT
NDSU fell short at Minnesota, 75-53, on Wednesday night. Heaven Hamling led the way for the Bison logging her second career double-double with a team-high 12 points and team-best 10 rebounds with three assists. Elle Evans also reached double digits with 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
 
THE SERIES VS. NORTHERN COLORADO 
This will be the 35th all-time meeting between NDSU and Northern Colorado dating back to 1980 with the Bison leading the series, 30-4. In their most recent meeting last season, NDSU topped Northern Colorado, 68-54, after outscoring the Bears, 25-8, in the fourth quarter. Elle Evans paced the Bison with 15 points, five rebounds, four steals and three blocks.
 
SPENDING NOVEMBER ON THE ROAD
The Bison will be spending the first month of the season on the road with five of their first six games away from home. NDSU is set to play contests across four different states over that span after traveling to South Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado and California. The Bison played their lone home game in the month of November picking up a 112-59 win over Jamestown on Nov. 9.
 
COLLEGE INSIDER MID-MAJOR TOP 25 POLL
The Bison remained in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll for the second straight week at No. 25. NDSU joins South Dakota State as the only Summit League schools listed in the poll after the Jackrabbits stayed at No. 1. NDSU debuted in the preseason poll at No. 24 and climbed as high as
No. 19 last season.
 
HIGH SCORING HOME OPENER
NDSU rolled past Jamestown in its home opener at Scheels Center, 112-59, with all 13 players on the roster reaching the scoring column. It ranks tied as the third-most points in NDSU history and is the most scored under head coach Jory Collins over the last five seasons.
 
EVERYONE GETTING MINUTES
In each of the first three games of the season, NDSU has seen all 13 players on the roster check into the game. The Bison had all 13 players reach the scoring column in the 112-59 win over Jamestown with the bench contributing 67 points. The Bison are averaging 36.0 points per game from the bench, which leads the Summit League and ranks 15th in the nation.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL       
NDSU was selected second in the Summit League Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Bison garnered 526 total points and five first-place votes to earn their highest ranking in the preseason poll since joining the Summit League in 2007-08. South Dakota State was picked first with 577 points and 27 first-place votes. South Dakota closed out the top three in third place with 485 points and two first-place votes.
 
PRESEASON ALL-SUMMIT LEAGUE FIRST TEAM 
Heaven Hamling and Elle Evans were also both selected to the Preseason All-Summit League First Team making NDSU the only team in the Summit League to have multiple first team selections. Hamling, who was named to the All-Summit League First Team last season, ranked fourth in scoring in the conference in 2022-23 after averaging a team-best 16.5 points per game. Evans, who was named the Summit League Freshman of the Year last season, averaged 13.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in her freshman season.
 
LOOKING BACK AT LAST SEASON            
NDSU put together one of the most successful seasons in the Division I era last season after posting its most wins since 2004-05 with an 18-12 overall record and advancing to the WNIT for the first time in program history. The Bison also notched a 12-6 mark in Summit League play and finished in second place in the conference.
 
PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE IN THE LINEUP 
The Bison return six players this season, including three seniors: Heaven Hamling, Kristina Ekofo Yomane and Abby Schulte. Hamling and Schulte provide the most experience in the lineup combining for 155 career starts entering the season. Hamling has started a team-high 83 games (includes one start at Stephen F. Austin State) over four seasons, while Schulte has started 72 games over three seasons at NDSU.
 
WELCOME TO THE SQUAD         
The roster features five newcomers to the roster this season: Taryn Hamling, Avery Koenen, Miriley Simon, Abby Krzewinski and Grace Massaquoi.
 
TWICE THE HAMLING FUN
Heaven Hamling is joined by her sister, Taryn Hamling, on the roster this season. The two were briefly teammates at Grand Rapids High School in basketball when Heaven Hamling was in her senior season and Taryn Hamling was in seventh grade. The duo also played tennis together with Heaven Hamling on varsity and Taryn Hamling on junior varsity.
 
GEISSERT ELEVATED
Dylan Geissert was elevated to associate head coach over the offseason. He has spent the last four seasons with the Bison as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Prior to joining NDSU in 2019, Geissert was a graduate student manager at the University of Kansas from 2017-19. He got his start in coaching as a male practice player for the Emporia State women’s basketball program and served as a student assistant under current NDSU head coach Jory Collins for three seasons.
 
250 CAREER WINS          
Following the victory over South Dakota on Feb. 2, 2023, head coach Jory Collins earned his 250th career win. He has currently amassed a 255-118 overall record spanning 13 seasons. He notched a 199-58 mark during eight seasons at Emporia State. Collins has posted a 56-60 mark at NDSU over his first four seasons. His 56 wins at NDSU rank third all-time in Bison history behind Amy Ruley (671 wins) and Carolyn DeHoff (72 wins).
 
HEAVEN DOING HEAVEN THINGS            
Heaven Hamling enters the 2023-24 season with the chance to leave her mark in NDSU history and currently ranks in the top 10 in scoring average (6th, 14.5), three-point field goals made (3rd, 204), three-point field goal percentage (3rd, .383), free throw percentage (4th, .854), defensive rebounding average (7th, 3.8), assists average (8th, 3.1) and minutes average (4th, 32.5).
 
Hamling has also surpassed the 1,000 career scoring mark with 1,412. She started her career at Stephen F. Austin State for one season in 2018-19 and netted 174 points. Hamling has totaled 1,238 points over the last four seasons at NDSU.
 
HISTORIC FRESHMAN SEASON  
Elle Evans wasted no time making an impact in her freshman season after becoming the first player in program history to be named the Summit League Freshman of the Year. The Edwardsville, Ill., native was also the first player to earn Summit League All-Defensive Team honors in program history.
 
Evans ranked fifth in the Summit League shooting 43.8 percent from the field and averaged 13.4 points with 4.9 rebounds per game. She reached double digits in scoring in 26 of 30 games, including 14 straight to close the season. She was also a force on the defensive side of the floor and ranked second in the Summit League with a team-high 42 blocks.
 
BALL MOVEMENT          
Heaven Hamling and Abby Schulte both reached the 100-assist mark last season and it marked the first time since the 2003-04 season that NDSU had two different players record 100 or more assists in a single-season. Hamling passed out the most assists by a Bison player since 2018 with a career-high 112, while Schulte handed out a career-best 103 assists of her own.
 
STARTING A NEW 3-POINT STREAK        
NDSU shot 1-of-9 from three at Kansas State on Nov. 29, 2021, which ended a streak of 56 straight games that the Bison have netted at least two triples. The Bison have bounced back and have connected at least two triples in each of their last 55 games.
 
NDSU has a recent history of assembling lengthy three-point streaks. The Bison went 0-of-14 from three-point range against Valparaiso on Nov. 15, 2019, ending a streak of 113 straight games with at least two 3-pointers.
 
THIS IS OUR HOUSE       
NDSU is 473-142 all-time at home dating back to 1977-78. NDSU finished last season with an 11-1 mark at Scheels Center after starting the season 9-0. It marked the most home wins since 2009-10.
 
UP NEXT
NDSU will continue its road swing against Harvard at the San Diego Classic on Friday. Tip-off is set for 4:40 p.m. CT in San Diego, Calif.