Ndsu Women’s Basketball and Avery Koenen’s sore ankle: the 31-point push into the Summit title game
Inside the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, the moment kept repeating itself: Avery Koenen grimacing, glancing down at her foot, then jogging back into the flow. In a 63-51 win that moved ndsu women’s basketball into the Summit League tournament title game, the North Dakota State junior turned a sprained ankle into a footnote and a career-high 31 points into the headline.
How did Ndsu Women’s Basketball beat St. Thomas, 63-51?
The top-seeded Bison advanced by edging fifth-seeded St. Thomas, 63-51, with Koenen delivering the defining performance. She shot 11 of 16 from the field and 9 of 10 at the free-throw line, adding eight rebounds and four steals. Those steals were part of a broader defensive pressure that helped force 22 St. Thomas turnovers.
Still, the game did not open as a runaway. St. Thomas’ turnovers piled up early, yet North Dakota State couldn’t fully cash them into separation before the break. NDSU led 24-22 at halftime, a narrow margin that carried the tension of a postseason afternoon when opportunities come and go quickly.
Head coach Jory Collins pointed to the team’s identity when describing the foundation underneath the win.
“I wish we could have turned some of those turnovers into points in the first half, ” Collins said. “But defense and rebounding is something we take a lot of pride in, those things that can go anywhere with you because they’re effort areas. ”
What happened with Avery Koenen’s ankle, and why did she keep going?
Koenen entered the semifinal with uncertainty hanging over her right away. She had sprained her ankle early in the quarterfinal win over Omaha, and the question for Saturday afternoon was simple: could she move, cut, and land the way she needed to?
The answer came in fragments—a slight grimace after a jump shot midway through the first quarter, a look down at her foot, and time spent on a stationary bike when she wasn’t in the game. But it also came in production that refused to slow. Koenen said the stiffness was part of the opening challenge, something she needed to play through until the game’s rhythm took over.
“I think just getting started, it’s going to be stiff and it’s going to be sore, just kind of getting through that first hump, ” Koenen said. “But once I got into the flow of the game, I didn’t think about it. ”
She also credited the people tasked with getting athletes ready in moments like these, noting that the team connected with local medical professionals and that treatment “mainly consisted of a lot of ice. ”
“A shoutout to our trainers in getting me ready to play, ” Koenen said. “Just trying to tough it out. I don’t think there was any hesitation of me playing or not. ”
The push wasn’t hers alone. Guard Jocelyn Schiller returned to the starting lineup after missing the previous two games with a sprained ankle, adding another layer to a day shaped by who could play through pain and who could not.
What does the win set up next for ndsu women’s basketball?
The victory sends ndsu women’s basketball to the Summit League tournament title game for the second time in three years. Next is a matchup with No. 2 South Dakota State, described as a perennial power, with the championship scheduled for 3 p. m. ET Sunday in Sioux Falls. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network, with radio coverage on Bison 1660.
Saturday’s second half carried the blueprint the Bison will want to bring with them: a burst to open the third quarter, a defensive edge that created chaos, and then, in the fourth, a player deciding she would not let the day slip. North Dakota State led 40-32 with three minutes left in the third but entered the final period up 42-37, still close enough for every possession to matter.
Koenen created the separation with an 8-0 run that began with a pair of three-point plays. One sequence captured the whole afternoon: she picked off a pass on a dead sprint and converted the layup, turning discomfort into speed and speed into points. A field goal by guard Molly Lenz later pushed the lead to 50-37 with 8: 42 remaining, and NDSU stretched the margin to its biggest lead of 14 points four minutes later.
Lenz finished with nine points and Marisa Frost added eight, supporting the night’s central figure. St. Thomas tried to adjust, with forward Faith Feuerbach describing a defensive response aimed at making Koenen uncomfortable.
“She got her 31 and we tried to send more at her, just be super aggressive with her, ” Feuerbach said. “She’s a great player. We tried to send a couple players at her but she found a way around it. ”
After the final horn, the picture that lingered wasn’t only the scoreboard. It was the earlier image of Koenen checking her foot and choosing, again and again, to re-enter the current of the game. On Sunday at 3 p. m. ET, the title game will ask for another version of that choice—whether ndsu women’s basketball can turn effort, defense, and a visibly tested star into one more win when the stakes are highest.
