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GREELEY, Colo. - For the fourth time in five home games, Northern Colorado women's basketball senior guard Whitley Cox scored at least 20 points. Against Colorado State on Monday evening, Cox led the team with 20, giving her 71 points in the last three home contests.

Northern Colorado (6-6) trailed by five at the 18:27 mark, 5-0 and trailed by two at 11-9 before junior guard Courtney Stoermer hit her first three-pointer at 14:22 to give the Bears a 12-11 lead, which they never relinquished.

Behind a career-best eight rebounds by senior guard Lizzie Cooper, the Bears did a great job of keeping Colorado State (7-4) off the glass, outrebounding them, 42-28 and limiting the Rams to just five offensive boards.

"Lizzie Cooper got eight rebounds," said Head Coach Jaime White. "That was huge for us. Before the game I wrote ‘crash the boards' six times. I really believe that was the key to the game, getting those offensive rebounds - especially late - and defensively, really securing the ball."

Sophomore forward Kaisha Brown and Stoermer also scored in double figures with Brown scoring 13 and Stoermer getting 10 to go along with a game-high six assists. Cox tallied two of the team's three-blocked shots in the game, while Stoermer had two steals.

"I think this was a good win for us," continued White. "We don't play CU and we knew coming in Colorado State had beaten CU so that's big. That was a big win for them and they also beat Montana, which is another big win. Our kids are sitting back and thinking we play three games and we don't know what we have left but I think our kids played with a lot of heart. They played together and our kids came off the bench and played hard."

The Bears did a great job from the free throw line, making 15-of-16 for a season-best .938. The Bears also shot .368 (21-for-57) from the field and .364 (8-for-22) from the three-point line.

Colorado State shot .420 (21-for-50) from the field and .400 (6-for-15) from the arc, but hit just .533 (8-for-15) from the free throw line.

Both Stoermer and Brown hit shot clock violation saving three-pointers early in the second half to help retain the lead and win their third game in the last seven days.

The Bears now have a break until Dec. 30 when they travel south to the Air Force Academy. Game time is set for 6:05 p.m.