Post Game Interview

NEWARK, NJ—North Dakota State sophomore Taylor Thunstedt scored 17 second-half points to lead the visiting Bison past NJIT, 64-59, in a closely-contested non-conference women's basketball game Tuesday afternoon in the Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
Thunstedt, who came in averaging 16.4 points per game, scored just 6 in an opening half that ended with NJIT clinging to a 27-26 lead. But the NDSU guard broke out in the second half, scoring 7 in the third quarter and 10 in the fourth to finish with 23 points as her team won its second  in a row. The Bison, who lost seven games in a row from November 22 to December 19, are 4-8 after beating the Highlanders.
 
Despite the late heroics, Thunstedt was not North Dakota State's leading scorer on Tuesday. That honor went to senior Marena Whittle, who finished with game-high totals of 24 points and 13 rebounds. Whittle did most of her damage in the first half, getting 15 points and 7 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of play.
 
With Whittle and Thunstedt combining to account for 47 of North Dakota State's 64 total points, the Bison got 8 points from Kennedy Childers and 7 from Brooke Yaggie.
 
NJIT, which has dropped its last three, falls to 3-8 on the season.
 
The top scorer for the Highlanders was senior Ronni Grandison, who finished with 18 points, nearly double her previous career-high 10 points, done twice last season (vs. Penn on Jan. 24, 2015 and vs. College of St. Joseph, VT, on Feb. 15, 2015).
 
Junior Leah Horton added 16 points and a season-high 11 rebounds, her first double-double of the season and the fifth of her two-year NJIT career.
 
Camerin Spahn, Bianca Picard, and Olivia Dudley all scored 7 points apiece for the Highlanders.
 
Even though they never trailed by more than 8 points, the Highlanders spent most of the afternoon playing from behind, as the visiting Bison were in the lead for more than 33 of the 40 minutes and the game was tied for 3:34.
 
North Dakota State took what would be its biggest lead, 14-6, just past the mid-point of the opening quarter following a pair of free throws by Thunstedt, who would finish the day 8-for-10 at the foul line.
 
Grandison closed the gap for NJIT from 14-6 to 14-10 with a pair of buckets before Thundstedt's layup brought the game to 16-10, NDSU, by quarter's end.
 
The Highlanders' best quarter was the second, as they outscored the visiting Bison 17-10 in the second 10 minutes. Spahn's buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the left corner lifted NJIT into a 27-26 halftime advantage.
 
There was no momentum carryover for NJIT coming out of the locker room for the third quarter as North Dakota State's Yaggie drilled a 3-pointer on the first shot of the second half and Whittle followed with a layup that gave the visitors a 31-27 advantage before a minute had passed in the second half.
 
However, NJIT fought back and when Horton scorde a layup, giving her 6 consecutive points, the Highlanders were back in the lead, 35-33, with 5:38 on the third-quarter clock.
 
That slender two-point advantage would be the high-water mark for the Highlanders, as Whittle answered with a conventional 3-point play on the other end, with her foul shot giving the visitors a lead they would never relinquish.
 
NDSU followed the Whittle 3-point play with 3-point baskets for Childers and Thunstedt sandwiched around a free throw by NJIT's Maria Ruban. Thunstedt's trey put the Bison on top 42-36 with 3:17 to play in the third quarter.
 
North Dakota State was still up by six when Picard connected on a 3-pointer for NJIT just ahead of the buzzer that ended the third quarter with the visitors holding to a 46-43 lead.
 
A 3-pointer for Thunstedt opened the fourth-quarter scoring to push the North Dakota State lead back to six, but Kayla Diaz drained a 3-pointer for the Highlanders and Horton scored a layup with 6:32 left to give NJIT a 50-49 edge.
 
After a couple of empty trips both ways, Childers sunk another three to put the Bison back ahead and Thundstedt made a free throw 20 seconds later and then a 3-pointer that gave NDSU a 56-50 lead with 3:43 remaining in the game.
 
Grandison and Horton each made baskets to pull NJIT back within two points of the lead, but the Highlanders couldn't get any closer, despite not being out of it until Thundstedt's two foul shots with 6 seconds left gave her team a two-possession lead.
 
With the non-conference portion of the schedule winding down ahead of the start of Atlantic Sun Conference play, NJIT faces a daunting task in the next game, as the Highlanders will head to the Twin Cities to face Minnesota of the powerful Big Ten Conference on December 28 at 7 pm (CST).
 
Minnesota is 6-3 with a December 23 home game vs. North Dakota before hosting the Highlanders on the 28th.