Welcome to Bison Illustrated’s 2014-15 Yearbook! Wednesday, we’ll be releasing our highlights from the men’s track and field and men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Head Coach Maren Walseth Quote
“Kind of without thinking about it, the wins came together and when you look back you say, I never had a goal to win an X amount of games, and I think as the season went along, the kids saw that and I think you can look back and say ‘Were we always successful, no. But did we make strides in the right direction?’ And that’s what was important, that’s how you rebuild a program in my opinion.”
Highlight
After opening the Summit League season with a victory over Oral Roberts, the Bison welcomed rival South Dakota State to the Scheels Arena for their first meeting of the season. Led by a marvelous 30-point performance by Brooke LeMar, the Bison defeated SDSU for the first time since December 4, 2010, and it was the first time they beat the Jacks in Fargo since February 26, 2005.
Impact Performer
During her short, two-year career at NDSU, point guard Brooke LeMar led the Bison with 1,018 points, 291 assists and 2,154 minutes played. The point guard was recognized for her on-the-court leadership when she was named to the All-Summit League first team, the first Bison to garner that recognition since Abby Plucker in 2011. LeMar leaves NDSU ranked second in career scoring average with 17.1 points per game and career assists average with 4.9 assists per game.
The Future Is Now
Five-foot, 11-inch Marena Whittle and six-foot Holly Johnson, aren’t the tallest post players in the Summit League, but that doesn’t stop the juniors from being a force at the forward position for the Bison. The duo combined to average over 20 points and 14 rebounds per game and both have increased their rebounding numbers since their freshmen seasons.
(Photo courtesy of Kimberly Hill) Senior Brooke LeMar was second in the Summit League in scoring, averaging 19.5 points per game.
Chew on This
For the first time since the 2009-10 season, the Bison opened its Summit League season with a 3-0 record with wins over Oral Roberts, IUPUI and eventual conference tournament champions South Dakota State. All three teams would play in the Summit League tournament semifinals. In Maren Walseth’s first season, she tallied a 7-9 record against league opponents, a five-win increase from last season.
