FARGO — The ascension of North Dakota State’s women’s basketball team will lead to statewide over-the-air television exposure on ABC stations.
The Bison’s game against South Dakota State on Feb. 25 at Scheels Center will be broadcast by WDAY channel 6 in Fargo, WDAY channel 8 in Grand Forks, KBMY channel 17 in Bismarck and Dickinson and KMCY channel 14 in Minot and Williston.
The stations are owned by Forum Communications Co., which also owns The Forum.
“Every year of our partnership with NDSU we’ve tried to put at least a game or two on ABC as a way to help bring better awareness to the programs,” said Josh Rohrer, vice president of broadcast for Forum Communications. “This game is perfect for that.”
NDSU is having its best season since moving to NCAA Division I in 2004. The Bison are 20-2 overall, leading the Summit League with a 9-0 record and are ranked No. 2 in the College Insider Mid-Major Women’s Basketball poll.
The game will feature the top two candidates for the conference’s player of the year award in NDSU’s Avery Koenen and SDSU’s Brooklyn Meyer.
The Jackrabbits are the team that’s mostly dominated the Summit League the past two decades. SDSU is tied for second in the conference with a 7-2 record, 17-6 overall.
NDSU beat SDSU 76-68 in mid-January in Brookings, the Bison’s first win over the Jackrabbits since 2015.
It’s not the first time the Bison women have been on Channel 6 and the statewide ABC network. Most recently, it was NDSU’s victory over Minnesota in December 2022 at Scheels Center. But with the Bison in first place and a serious contender to win the Summit League postseason tournament to gain the program’s first Division I NCAA tournament berth, this season’s game takes on extra meaning.
“This one was a no-brainer,” Rohrer said. “It’s going to be a game that has influence on the standings and the conference tournament seedings when these two teams play.”
The game will also be carried in South Dakota on KSFL in Sioux Falls and a KNBN sub-channel in Rapid City.
National quarterback Cole Payton (9) of North Dakota State throws the ball during the second half of the 2026 Senior Bowl on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.
Vasha Hunt / IMAGN IMAGES
Cole Payton by the numbers
Former NDSU quarterback Cole Payton had a strong Senior Bowl week, capping it with being named player of the game for his American team after going 5 of 10 passing for 72 yards while rushing for 22 yards on five carries. His 19-yard run was reminiscent of some of his big runs for the Bison as he escaped the pass rush, broke tackles and got into the open field to show his speed.
Before the game, analytics guru and player personnel director for the University of San Diego Adam Carter posted some interesting numbers about Payton on the social media platform X.
— Payton’s 15.48% rushing TD rate as a junior would be the highest all-time if you were to convert the numbers to running back.
— He has the best single season big-time throw rate from a clean pocket (11.80%) and when blitzed (13.3%) in more than 10 years.
“These numbers are even more impressive when you factor in that Carson Wentz had a 7.1% big time throw rate from a clean pocket and a 2.6% big time throw rate when blitzed,” Carter wrote.
— Payton’s 95.8 Pro Football Focus grade in 2025 is tied with Mac Jones for the highest in a single season (FBS or FCS) since PFF started tracking data in 2014 among QBs with a minimum of 250 dropbacks.
University of Jamestown guard Anthony Walters is off to a strong start for the Jimmies men’s basketball team.
Contributed / Kadin Neppl Photography
Three area college basketball games this week the Insider will be keeping an eye on:
— Denver at North Dakota State men, Thursday, 7 p.m. at Scheels Center in Fargo: The first-place Bison take on some familiar faces in this Summit League clash. Pioneers coach Tim Bergstraser was at Minnesota State University Moorhead last year, as were starters Carson Johnson and Logan Kinsey. Denver starting forward Jeremiah Burke transferred from NDSU.
— MSUM at Jamestown men, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at Harold Newman Arena: The Jimmies are leading the NSIC North Division in their first year as a Division II program (albeit with a 9-7 record) behind senior forward Anthony Walters. The player of the year candidate is averaging 19.5 points per game and the Dragons are allowing a league-worst 83.6 points a game. Could be a big day for Walters,
who scored 29 points against MSUM in a December victory.
— Hamline at Concordia women, Saturday, 1 p.m. at Memorial Auditorium: The first-place Cobber women are trying to win their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season title since 2012-13 and Hamline will be one of the tougher tests in their remaining games. Concordia is 10-2 in the league, 16-3 overall. Hamline is 8-4, 14-5.
Roos hire Turgeon to lead men’s basketball
The University of Missouri-Kansas City of the Summit League announced Sunday, Feb. 1, it was hiring veteran Mark Turgeon as its next men’s basketball coach.
The school said in January that Marvin Menzies, the Roos’ coach since 2022, would not return this season. After a 99-64 loss at St. Thomas on Sunday, Kansas City is 1-8 in the Summit League and 4-19 overall.
Turgeon, 60, has been a head coach for 24 seasons and has a career winning percentage of .634 between stops at Jacksonville State, Wichita State, Texas A&M and Maryland.
He played college basketball at Kansas in the mid-1980s.
North Dakota State track and field athlete Zach McGlynn broke the school record in the heptathlon at the Dr. Rick McGuire Invitational at Missouri.
Zachary Lucy / NDSU Athletics
McGlynn crushes NDSU heptathlon record
Senior Zach McGlynn broke NDSU’s school record in the heptathlon Saturday, Jan. 31, posting one of the best scores in the nation in men’s track and field.
The Stephen, Minnesota, product scored 5,975 points to win the Dr. Rick McGuire Invitational at Missouri. He broke the previous mark set by All-American Andy Lillejord at the 2013 NCAA Championships by 182 points.
McGlynn ranks fourth in the NCAA this year.
McGlynn registered career-best performances in all three events contested Saturday. He ran 8.18 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, cleared 17 feet, 4.5 inches in the pole vault and clocked 2:45.88 in the 1,000 meters.
South Dakota State offered Moorhead High School cornerback Zak Walker last week. He was offered by NDSU last summer. … Omaha, Nebraska, prep prospect Mikey Gow,
an ambidextrous quarterback whose TikTok video amassed millions of views and who later visited NDSU
on a recruiting trip, has committed to Missouri Baptist, an NAIA school in St. Louis. … Fargo South graduate James Hamilton is averaging 18.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game for the M State-Fergus Falls men’s basketball team. He is second in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference in scoring and third in rebounds.