GRAND FORKS — It took roughly two and a half minutes for Avery Koenen to set the tone Sunday afternoon at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.

The 6-foot-3 junior forward made a layup and a jumper on North Dakota State’s first two possessions. Sophomore guard Sydney Piekny drove to the rim for a layup in an attempt to score UND’s first points of the game.

Koenen blocked it.

The Fighting Hawks gathered the rebound and graduate guard Mackenzie Hughes made her own attempt at a layup.

Koenen blocked it again.

Thirty-six seconds later, she put in a layup of her own.

Koenen did not cool off as the game progressed. She finished with 29 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks as the Bison routed the Hawks, 87-51.

“She’s a very good player,” UND head coach Dennis Hutter said. “Athletic, both shoulders, both hands, finishes well, shoots free throws well, plays hard, competes, does a very good job. She’s a very hard guard.”

North Dakota State’s 36-point win was the largest margin of victory in the history of the rivalry, according to the Hawks’

record book.

The largest margin of victory belonged to UND before Sunday’s loss. It was set in a 90-58 win on March 10, 1990.

“It’s important to our alums, it’s important to our community, it’s important to NDSU that we represent ourselves really well in this game,” Bison head coach Jory Collins said. “I’ve been fortunate everywhere that I’ve been to have a real rival, in-state rival, and have embraced that and enjoyed what that brings, the good times and the bad ones. It really is fun, I think it’s great for the state of North Dakota as well, so proud that we came out on the good end today.”

Eric Hylden / GF Herald

The 23-2 overall Bison, who have not lost a game since Nov. 16 and lead the Summit League with a 12-0 record, took off in the third quarter.

North Dakota State entered the second half with a 39-26 lead and quickly rattled off a 15-2 run. The Bison outscored the Hawks 25-10 in the third.

“It was important to come out strong,” Koenen said. “Maybe we weren’t finishing well in the first half and I think that we came out stronger in the second half, and asserted ourselves right away and it just carried on the rest of the game.”

Redshirt sophomore guard Jocelyn Schiller nailed a 3-pointer during North Dakota State’s third-period surge.

She shot 4-for-11 and scored 14 points, second only to Koenen.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Schiller. The Grand Forks Red River graduate spent her freshman season playing for the Hawks before transferring to NDSU.

“It was a little weird coming back,” Schiller said. “As soon as the game started, I kind of forgot about everything and was just excited to play with this team. … It’s a rivalry either way I think, so everyone was pumped to come into this game, and so was I.”

Eric Hylden / GF Herald

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UND struggled to keep up with the Bison’s offense. The Hawks shot 32.7% from the field and 4-for-22 from 3-point range.

The offensive load was carried by a pair of upperclassmen.

Hughes shot 5-for-13 and led the way with 22 points. Senior center Walker Demers scored 15 points and shot 6-for-12.

UND’s bench provided just five points.

The Hawks, hot off the heels of a 94-48 road loss to South Dakota State on Thursday, fell to 7-20 overall and 3-10 in conference play.

They’re entering the home stretch of the regular season with just three games remaining.

“I told our team this week, you get a great opportunity,” Hutter said. “If you have any aspirations and any dreams of finishing at the top of this league, you’re going to find out this week exactly what you have to do and how you have to play, and how you have to go about it. And the fact that you’re going to play the top two teams right now, one that’s won it consistently over the years and one that’s playing at an extremely high level.

“So I do think we have some kids that are trying to figure it out. We’re playing some young kids I think that are garnering some pretty good minutes and maybe getting some tread on their tires a little bit. But I just wish we’d learn how to compete for 40 minutes. I just don’t think we know how to do that yet.”

Eric Hylden / GF Herald

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Alex Faber is a sports reporter for the Grand Forks Herald. A Michigan transplant, he graduated from Michigan State University in 2024 with a degree in journalism and minors in history and environmental studies.

GRAND FORKS — North Dakota State head coach David Richman knew what his team was up against heading into Saturday afternoon’s game at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.

A hostile road environment? Check. A resilient UND team with a proven ability to mount second-half comebacks? Check. A rivalry bout with major implications in the Summit League standings? Check.

The Bison went into halftime trailing by a point. But it didn’t take long for the visitors to establish in the second half that the Fighting Hawks would not get the opportunity for another late rally.

NDSU kicked off the second frame on an 18-5 run, kept its foot on the gas and steamed ahead to an 83-66 win over the Hawks.

“(UND) is tough,” Richman said. “They’re resilient. How many times that they’ve been down double digits? That’s why we stayed on edge the entirety of that second half. Extremely proud of our guys and the way they responded.”

The Bison added some padding to their spot atop the conference standings. They moved to 11-1 in Summit League play and 21-6 overall.

The Hawks moved to 15-14 overall and 9-4 in league play, good for third place. St. Thomas sits at second (20-7, 9-3) with a game against Kansas City on Saturday night.

“We need to keep playing to win,” Richman said. “Kindergarten is for sharing. We want to keep getting better, we want to keep getting better, we want to keep getting better. … We’re in a good spot. I have no interest in being good.”

NDSU’s run in the opening minutes of the second half was highlighted by a handful of resounding dunks from Markhi Strickland.

The senior guard was just one of four Bison who scored in double figures.

“It’s a crazy energy boost,” sophomore guard Andy Stefonowicz said. “I don’t know how he dunks it that hard, but that’s my favorite. When he goes up there, I know he’s dunking it.”

UND, which had begun to force turnovers and find some defensive rhythm near the end of the first half, struggled to contain the Bison’s wide array of offensive weapons in the second.

Stefonowicz shot 5-for-5 from 3-point range and scored a team-high 20 points. Strickland and junior guard Damari Wheeler-Thomas each scored 16 points, while junior forward Noah Feddersen contributed 12.

“Just really disappointed in the second half,” Hawks head coach Paul Sather said. “The toughness side of it, the team aspect stuff, I just didn’t think we were very good about that in the second half. Made a few shots offensively, but I just think that’s what our concern was mostly and we didn’t have the concern or the fight defensively enough. I thought we made it really easy for them. We didn’t put up enough of a fight.”

NDSU also made a living on the boards, outrebounding the Hawks 36-23.

The Bison grabbed 12 offensive rebounds and scored 19 second-chance points. For Sather, it was further proof of the Hawks’ lackluster effort.

“There were a few times where shots went up, and we didn’t really even put a body,” Sather said. “It’s February. You’ve got to play with some physicality, and we didn’t. It’s just a really good reflective number on your effort, when you get (beat in) second-chance points like that.”

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UND kept up with NDSU in the first half despite shooting 37% from the field. The Hawks improved with a 50% effort from the field in the second, but it was no match for the Bison’s 64.3%.

Redshirt freshman Greyson Uelmen tried to create a spark with 14 second-half points, but none of his teammates scored more than six points in the final frame.

“I just was really disappointed with our fight,” Sather said. “That’s kind of who we’ve been. And when you don’t have it, it’s a hard one to put your finger on. “

Alex Faber is a sports reporter for the Grand Forks Herald. A Michigan transplant, he graduated from Michigan State University in 2024 with a degree in journalism and minors in history and environmental studies.