Notes: Kansas City Hits Road to Take on North Dakota State

Thursday, January 8

Fargo, ND

7:00 PM

Kansas City

North Dakota State

Photo by: Anna Simms

1/7/2026 3:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

The Roos and Bison tip at 7 p.m. Thursday evening on the Summit League Network

Kansas City Notes

Looking to get back to above the .500 mark in conference play, Kansas City ventures to the Great Plains to face off with North Dakota State on Thursday evening. The Roos are off to a 1-1 start in Summit action, beating Omaha 61-59 and falling to South Dakota 47-67 last week.
The last meeting between KC and NDSU came in the 2025 Summit League Tournament Quarterfinals with the sixth-seeded Roos pulling off the 68-58 upset over the third-seeded Bison. The 10-point win was Kansas City's fourth all-time victory over North Dakota State in postseason play. KC leads the all-time series 14-13 with three wins coming on the road in 11 tries dating back to 2008.
Elauni Bennett had a night to remember in that Summit quarterfinals match against the Bison, posting a 20-point and 14-rebound double-double, making it the third of her career. Bennett is one of two players in the Summit to average over 15 PPG (15.2), 7.5 RPG (7.5) and shoot over 60% (60.8%) from the field.
Emani Bennett is closing in on the 1,000 career point landmark. The junior guard out of Lee's Summit, Mo. sits at 968 career points in 78 career games played and 67 career starts. Bennett would be the 18th player in program history to achieve the feat and do so in the fourth fewest games played.
Kansas City beat Omaha 61-59 in the Summit opener behind 18 points and 10 rebounds from Elauni Bennett and double figure scoring nights from Tierra Trotter (12) and Emani Bennett (11).

North Dakota State Notes

North Dakota State leads the Summit League in NET Ranking, slotting in 48th place nationally while also having the most wins of any team in the conference with 13 to date this season.
The Bison have a habit of defending their home court well, sporting a perfect 6-0 record at home this season while going 13-3 at home in the 2024-25 season. NDSU has only lost five home games in their last four seasons dating back to 2022-23.
The Bison come into this contest against KC on an 11 game win streak dating back to mid-November. NDSU's last loss came on Nov. 16 in a 70-82 result to Nebraska.
NDSU sports the conference's top offense, scoring 79.3 points a contest which ranks 33rd nationally. The Bison also shoot the rock at a 48.2% clip which tops the Summit and ranks 14th best in the country.
Avery Koenen is the only player in the Summit League to average a double-double, scoring 18.8 PPG and grabbing 10.3 RPG.