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OGDEN, Utah - Mistakes often prove costly and Friday evening was no exception for the Northern Colorado women's basketball team as they lost a 61-52 decision at Weber State.

The Bears (8-7, 1-1 Big Sky) had 19 turnovers and shot just .500 (10-20) from the free throw line, struggling through the press defense of the Wildcats (7-9, 1-2 Big Sky), especially in the second half. Those 19 turnovers turned into 22 points for Weber State.

"They (Weber State) did a good job in their press and came back to zone and did some good things," said Head Coach Jaime White. "I thought we had some pretty good looks and some good penetration at times but Weber State out-played us tonight."

Senior guard Whitley Cox was hot in the first half, leading all players with 12 points, but ended the game with just 15. Freshman forward Lauren Oosdyke scored 14, while junior guard Courtney Stoermer chipped in 11.

Junior center Brittany Fernandez recorded a career-best 11 rebounds for the third straight career-high and Oosdyke narrowly missed out on her second-straight double-double with nine boards.

Weber State was led by forward Caitlin Anderson with 16 points and eight rebounds, while both Tonya Schnibbe and Joey O'Neill added 10 each. Sarah Conner had seven rebounds, while Mikell Woodfield added six, five on the offensive end of the floor. Schnibbe also just missed out on a double-double with nine assists.

Northern Colorado shot .373 from the field for the game, connecting on 50 percent in the first half, but just 24 in the second stanza.  The Bears continued to outrebound opponents, grabbing 43 rebounds compared to 32 for WSU. NC also had six blocked shots. Weber State shot .417 from the floor, but just .267 from behind the arc.

The squads were tied at halftime, 28-28 after Weber State scored the final five of the half. It is the second game of the year the Bears have been tied at the break (at Wichita State). The Wildcats came out and scored 12 of the first 16 in the second half to take an eight-point lead, 40-32.

Northern Colorado fought back to knot the score again at 42-42, but Weber State used a 9-1 run to regain the lead for good.

With the new Big Sky Conference format, the Bears play at Idaho State tomorrow evening at 7:05 p.m. The Bengals defeated Northern Arizona 67-60 to move to 7-9 on the year and 2-1 in league play.

 "Idaho State runs a great offense, they're quick they run a lot of screens and they're a good team," said White in the post-game show on ESPN 870. It will be a tough game, but we have to be ready to go."