RELATED CLICKS
Game Notes | Big Sky Notes

Hit The Road, Jack
Northern Colorado starts a five-game road trip at Sacramento State on Thursday. The Bears do not play at home again until Feb. 11 when they host Idaho State and will go 26 days between home contests.

Last Time Out
The Bears split decisions with the two undefeated teams in Big Sky Conference play, defeating Portland State 72-68 before dropping an exciting 51-49 game to first-place Eastern Washington. Senior Whitley Cox again led the Bears, tallying 38 points and 16 rebounds over the weekend, while sophomore forward Kaisha Brown scored a career-best 21 points against the Vikings, hitting six three-pointers.

NC vs Sacramento State
The Bears are looking for a little payback after losing both games to Sacramento State a year ago. NC is 2-4 all-time against the Hornets with all six meetings coming in Big Sky play. The Bears are also in search of their first win in Sacramento, entering Thursday with an 0-3 mark.

Scouting Sacramento State
The Hornets are 4-12 on the season and 0-4 in Big Sky Conference play and have lost four of their last five games. Senior guard Charday Hunt leads the team and the league in scoring, averaging 18.1 per game, while Emily Christensen averages 12.9 a contest. Erika Edwards leads the team with 7.6 rebounds a game. Both teams have faced Portland State and Eastern Washington this year with the Hornets losing by 19 and five, respectively.

On This Date
On January 21, the Bears are 6-2 all-time in school history with seven of those eight games coming at home. NC is 0-1 on the road and have not played on the 21st since 2000.

Accuracy From A Distance
The Bears are the only team in the Big Sky Conference with three players ranked in the top 10 in three-point field goal percentage as sophomore forward Kaisha Brown ranks third at .478, junior guard Courtney Stoermer is eighth at .389 and senior guard Whitley Cox is 10th at .365. As a team, Northern Colorado leads the league shooting .355 from beyond the arc.

Top Five
Junior guard Whitley Cox now ranks among the top five in Northern Colorado history in scoring with 1,366 points after scoring 38 in the two games over the weekend. Cox passed Diane Worner (1980-84) who previously held the spot with 1,353 points. She is now 45 points shy of taking over fourth on the chart.

Rebounding On Rebounds
Northern Colorado tallied a season-low 26 rebounds against Eastern Washington on Saturday, including just seven on the offensive end of the floor. The Bears entered the game averaging 38.4 boards per game and were holding opponents to just 36.0 a contest. The Eagles grabbed 47, the second-highest total allowed this season behind the 51 by Eastern Illinois on Nov. 21.

Lucky Number Six
For the second time this year, sophomore forward Kaisha Brown tied the Division I school record for three-pointers in a game with six against Portland State. Brown scored a career-best 21 points in the win, hitting 6-of-7 from beyond the arc. It was the 10th time since the transition a Bear has made six triples in a contest. Brown now ranks eighth on the Division I list for career three-pointers with 76. The current career D-I mark is 144 by Heather Barbour (2003-07).

Road Warriors
Northern Colorado is hoping for its fourth win on the road this season, which would double the amount of wins the team won a season ago in true road contests. The team went 2-12 in road games and 4-14 away from Butler-Hancock. This season, the Bears are already 3-5 in true road games and 3-7 including neutral site contests.

Scoring At Will
Senior guard Whitley Cox scored 349 points in 28 games last season (12.5 per game) and is now just 31 points shy of that total going into the 19th game of the year. Cox leads the team and ranks second in the Big Sky Conference averaging 17.7 points per game.

Streak Snapped
Junior guard Courtney Stoermer had her double-figure scoring streak snapped against Portland State. Entering the game, she had scored 10 or more in 16-straight, the longest stretch of her career and the longest since Heather Barbour scored in double figures in 15 straight to end the 2006-07 season. Senior guard Whitley Cox now has the longest active double figure scoring streak on the team at 16 games, which is also second in the league behind Sacramento State senior guard Charday Hunt at 21 consecutive - dating back to last season.

20-20 Vision
When senior guard Whitley Cox (22) and sophomore forward Kaisha Brown (21) each scored over 20 points in the win against Portland State, it marked the first time since the overtime game against Montana State on Jan. 22, 2009 the Bears had two players score 20 or more in the same game. Against the Bobcats, Courtney Stoermer scored 22, while Cox had 31. The last regulation game to have two with 20 or more was against Washington State on Nov. 28, 2008 when Kate Kevorken scored 23 and Jamie Schroeder added 20.

Stronger
As the season progresses, junior forward Brittany Fernandez continues to get stronger on the court and in attacking the boards. She has grabbed at least five rebounds in each of the last six games, bringing down 45 over the stretch (7.5 per game) to lead the team. In conference games only, she is averaging 7.8 rebounds per game to rank sixth and leads the league in offensive rebounds. Fernandez' streak of six ties for the third longest active streak in the league of games with five or more rebounds. Surprisingly, senior guard Whitley Cox ranks second on the list with eight straight games, while Sacramento State's Erika Edwards leads the league with nine straight games.

Helping Hand
After playing a limited role over the previous three games, redshirt freshman guard Victoria Timm came off the bench against Eastern Washington to tally a career-best five assists with no turnovers. It was the highest assist total for a Bear in six games as junior guard Courtney Stoermer tallied six in the win over Colorado State.

Free Throw Facts
In the final five minutes of a game, with the margin on the scoreboard 10 or less, the Bears are shooting .719 (41-for-57) on the season but are an amazing .813 (26-for-32) since the end of finals.

The 50s
Senior guard Whitley Cox currently ranks 52nd in the nation in scoring, averaging 17.7 points per game. The Bears also rank 56th in Division I in three-point field goal percentage, shooting .355 from beyond the arc.

Jumping Out
Jaime White must say the right things during her pre-game speeches as the Bears are 8-1 this season when coming out and taking a lead in the first half and 1-1 when tied. On the flip side, the Bears are 0-7 when entering the locker room trailing the opposition.

Double, Double Toil and Trouble
Freshman forward Lauren Oosdyke tallied the second double-double of her career in the win over Northern Arizona. Oosdyke had a career-best in both points and rebounds with 15 and 12, respectively. Her other double-double came against Eastern Illinois with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Junior forward Jayne Strand has the team's other on the year with 13 points and 12 rebounds against Colorado Christian.

Back To Back
Senior guard Whitley Cox became just the third player in Northern Colorado history to earn Big Sky Player of the Week honors and she did so in back-to-back weeks after leading the Bears to a 3-1 mark over a four-game home stretch. Cox is the first player since Mandy Morales from Montana earned back-to-back nods in Jan/Feb of last season.

Making The Free Ones
In the win over Colorado State, the Bears shot .938 from the free throw line, making 15 of 16. The percentage ties the school Division I record from Dec. 2, 2005 at Nevada with a minimum of 10 made. The Bears are now shooting .707 from the charity stripe, increasing their percentage 46 points in the last six games from .661.

The Watch List
Junior guard Courtney Stoermer is inching closer the 1,000 point milestone in her career. She currently has 923 points, needing just 77 more to become the 15th player in school history to score 1,000. With her current season scoring average of 13.2 per game she should break the barrier against Idaho State on Feb. 11.

Closing In
Several players are approaching career milestones. Senior guard Lizzie Cooper needs just 16 points for 250 in her career, while senior guard Whitley Cox is 25 rebounds shy of 500. She also needs 11 assists to record 250 for her career. Junior guard Courtney Stoermer needs two more blocked shots for 50 and eight steals for 150 in her stellar career. Freshman Victoria Timm needs just 17 points for 100.

Stop Thief!
Junior guard Courtney Stoermer leads the team with 31 steals on the season and is currently tied for eighth all-time with 142. With her next steal she will tie Shelley Lindstrom (1988-92) for seventh. She is also just 47 shy of the school record of 189 steals held by Renee L'Heureux (1981-85).

Signing With ESPN
The University of Northern Colorado department of athletics is proud to announce it has partnered with ESPN AM 870 for women's basketball radio broadcasts in 2009-10. All regular season games will be available live both over the airwaves at 870 AM, as well as online via audio streaming at www.espn870.net. Northern Colorado alumnus Jason Alvine will be handling the play-by-play duties for the Bears' action.

Helping Hand
Junior guard Courtney Stoermer and senior guard Whitley Cox now both rank in the top 10 in career assists at Northern Colorado. Stoermer currently has 257 assists for sixth, while Cox is 10th with 239

Coaches Show
The Jaime White Head Coaches Show will take place at The Rio Grande (825 9th Street) on Tuesdays from 6:00-7:00 p.m. during January. Join Coach White and host Jason Alvine as they recap the previous week, preview the upcoming week and talk strategies with fans and players.

Going Streaking
Northern Colorado has now made at least one three-pointer in 255 consecutive games, dating all the way back to Jan. 20, 2001 at South Dakota State.

Stellar In The Classroom
Six current Bears were named to the Big Sky All-Academic Team last season in Kaisha Brown, Lizzie Cooper, Courtney Kranz, Cassie Lambrecht, Lara Merritt and Courtney Stoermer.

Bears Add Four Freshmen
Three Colorado and one Minnesota high school standouts signed National Letters of Intent to play women's basketball at the University of Northern Colorado, announced Head Coach Jaime White. Molly Duehn, Kirsten Hess, Kim Lockridge and D'Shara Strange make up the signing class for the Bears and will enroll in classes in the fall of 2010.