Women's Basketball Excited To Play At Home
COMPLETE NOTES: vs New Mexico State
The Series NMSU
Overall Record 2-5
In Greeley 2-1
At Opponent 0-3
At Neutral Sites 0-0
Last Meeting Nov. 23, 2007, L, 67-69
White vs 0-1
The Coaches
NC Jaime White (22-44, third year)
NMSU Darin Spence (72-86, sixth year*)
*at current institution
Radio
KFKA 1310 AM Chris Lewis, play-by-play
Audio Streaming
KFKA 1310kfka.com
Television
None
Video Streaming
Big Sky TV bigskytv.org
Live Stats
None
Home Again, Home Again
For the first time in six games, Northern Colorado will be playing in the friendly confines of Butler-Hancock when they host New Mexico State on Tuesday evening. The game is the first part of a doubleheader as the men's team hosts Portland 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women's game. The road respite is brief, however, as the Bears leave the next morning for Cancun, Mexico and the Cancun MTE Classic where they face Florida State, top-ranked Connecticut and Washington.
Four In Six
Tuesday marks the start of a hard-stretch for the Bears as they play four games in six days and travel to another country. NC hosts New Mexico State then plays against Florida State on Thursday, UConn on Friday and Washington on Saturday. The Bears then get one week off before hosting Johnson & Wales on the 28th.
On This Date
Northern Colorado is 3-2 all-time in games played on December 16 and has won its last three games, all at home. The Bears have not played since 1997 however on this date in history.
The Series
Northern Colorado is 2-5 all-time against New Mexico State, with both victories coming at home. Last season the Bears dropped a close 69-67 decision in Las Cruces at the Aggies Thanksgiving Classic. All-time, the Bears are 2-1 in Greeley and 0-3 in Las Cruces. One year ago, Whitley Cox led the Bears with 23 points, 11 rebounds and three steals and was one of four Bears in double figures in points. Courtney Stoermer chipped in 11, while both Danielle Hagen and Jamie Schroeder added 10. The Bears shot .356 from the field, while NMSU shot .403. Sherell Neal led a trio of Aggies in double figures in points with 16, while Madison Spence scored 15 and Anikia Jawara tallied 12.
Scouting The Aggies
New Mexico State is 4-4 on the year and has had eight days off from competition playing last on Dec. 7, a 77-67 victory over UTEP. The Aggies are winless on the road, falling at UTEP, Kent State and New Mexico and they are 4-1 at home. Madison Spence leads both NMSU and the entire WAC in scoring, averaging 16.1 points per game, while Danisha Corbett is second on the team and fourth in the conference at 15.4 a contest. Tabytha Wampler averages a team-best 5.5 rebounds. Head Coach Darin Spence is in his sixth season with the Aggies (72-86) and his 18th season overall (389-166).
Last Time Out
For the third straight game, the Bears struggled shooting the ball, falling 69-49 at UMKC. NC shot .321 from the field and just .222 from beyond the arc. Junior guard Whitley Cox led the team with 15 points, while senior forward Jamie Schroeder tallied a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, as well as grabbing a team-best three steals. The Bears did out-score the Kangaroos by five in the second half but it was not enough.
The Numbers Show...
In the three wins this season, the Bears are shooting .508 from beyond the arc (30-59) and have a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (48:46). In the four losses, NC is connecting on just .286 from three-point land (24-84) and have just 34 assists, compared with 66 turnovers.
Cox Good For 10
Junior Whitley Cox has scored in double figures in six straight games, with only the first game of the season not with 10 or more. Cox has now scored in double figures in 15 of the last 16 contests, dating back to the finale of the 2006-07 season.
Top Freshmen
True freshmen Cassie Lambrecht and Kaisha Brown are the top two three-point shooting freshmen in the Big Sky Conference. Lambrecht leads the conference, connecting on .636 (7-of-11) of her shots, while Brown is tied for 11th in the league at .375 (9-of-24). The Bears have four players ranked in the top 11 in three-point field goal percentage.
Moving On Up
Junior Whitley Cox made all three of her free throw attempts at UMKC last weekend and now has 197 for her career, which moves her into ninth in Northern Colorado history, passing Sandy Dorn (1993-97) with 196. With four more she will tie Cathy Bowles (1995-99) on the list with 201 free throws made.
Double Trouble
Senior Jamie Schroeder recorded the first double-double of the season for the Bears with 10 points and 10 rebounds at UMKC. Schroeder now has seven double-doubles in her career at Northern Colorado and has now led the team in rebounds the last four games, bringing her average up to 6.1 per game to rank 13th in the Big Sky Conference.
Milestone Markers
Junior Whitley Cox is approaching several milestones. She needs just one more rebound to tally the 300th of her career and is just four points shy of scoring her 800th. Senior Jamie Schroeder also needs 19 points for the 500th of her career and sophomore Courtney Stoermer needs 26 for 400 points.
Boardwork
The Bears have adapted a rebound by committee attitude for this season, as four different players have led the team in rebounding in the seven games. Senior Jamie Schroeder has now led the team in the last four games, but freshman Kaisha Brown, junior Whitley Cox and freshman Courtney Kranz have also led the team once. The Bears have six different players currently averaging over three rebounds a game.
All-Tournament Team
Sophomore guard Courtney Stoermer was named to the odwalla Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 15.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, while shooting .563 (9-16) from the floor and .818 (9-11) from the free throw line.
Among The Best
Through games played Dec. 14, Northern Colorado ranks 15th in three-pointers made per game (7.7), 28th in three-point field goal percentage (.378) and 36th in field goal percentage (.447). Individually, junior Whitley Cox ranks 26th in free throw percentage (.889), while sophomore Kate Kevorken is 48th in three-pointers made per game (2.6) and sophomore Courtney Stoermer is 56th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.71).
Snapped
For the first time in 12 games, sophomore Kate Kevorken did not make a three-pointer. She hit at least two three-pointers in the first six games of the year and leads the team with 18. She now needs just seven three-pointers to appear on the Northern Colorado career chart as Melanie Drangmeister (2003-07) ranks 10th with 95. Last season, Kevorken made 70 three-pointers, just two shy of the school record and it was the ninth highest total in Big Sky Conference history.
Best In The Big Sky
In the Big Sky Conference statistics, Northern Colorado leads the league in several categories. The Bears rank first in field goal percentage (.447), three-point field goal percentage (.378) and three-point field goals made (7.71) and rank second in scoring offense (69.3), scoring margin (+2.0) and field goal percentage defense (.394). Individually, senior Jamie Schroeder leads the team in field goal percentage (.519) and freshman Cassie Lambrecht leads in three-point field goal percentage (.636).
Youth Is Served
Northern Colorado has the youngest team in the Big Sky Conference this season as 11 of the 16 on the roster are either freshmen or sophomores. Portland State also has 68.8 percent of its roster as either freshmen or sophomores, but the Bears have six freshmen, compared to four for the Vikings. The Bears also have just one senior on the roster in forward Jamie Schroeder.
Century Mark
Northern Colorado topped the century mark in scoring for just the 15th time in school history and the first time since 2002-03 when they scored 101 against San Jose State. The last time the Bears scored over 100 was 103 against NYIT on Dec. 6, 2003. The school record for points in a game is 115 against Norwich on Jan. 5, 1998.
How The Holidays Impact
Usually, Tuesday evenings at Cables Restaurant will be the place to be to hear Coach Jaime White and men's coach Tad Boyle talk about the season. Due to the holiday season, there will be no show Dec. 17, Dec. 23, Dec. 30 or Jan. 6.
The Long Ball
Northern Colorado shot .579 from beyond the arc against Air Force, establishing a new school record for three-point field goal percentage (in the Division I era). The Bears made 11-of-19, breaking the old record of .531 (17-32) at Hastings College on Feb. 5, 2004 (minimum 10 makes). Six different Bears made at least one triple.
Gaining Respect
The Big Sky Conference announced the 2008-09 preseason polls for women's basketball and the Bears were chosen to finish fourth by both the coaches and media after finishing fifth a year ago. Montana was picked to repeat as champions, while Portland State and Montana State were nabbed second and third, respectively.
All-Conference Award Winners
Forward Jamie Schroeder was named the 2007-08 Big Sky Newcomer of the Year in a vote by the league's nine head coaches. She also earned honorable mention all-conference honors, while center Danielle Hagen was named to the Big Sky All-Conference Second Team.
Winning Ways
The 14 wins in 2007-08 by Northern Colorado were the most since the 2003-04 season when the university began the reclassification process to Division I (16-11). In 2006-07, the Bears were just 5-24 and 2-14 in Big Sky play, while they finished 14-16 and went 8-8 in league action for the 11th best turnaround in Division I.
Going Streaking
Northern Colorado has now made at least one three-pointer in 214 consecutive games, dating all the way back to Jan. 20, 2001 at South Dakota State.
It's Getting Closer
Northern Colorado continues to inch closer to a large program milestone. The win against Washington State marked the 496th win in program history and the team now needs four for 500. The Bears are 496-488 all-time.
Putting It In Writing
Head Coach Jaime White signed Jayne Strand to a National Letter of Intent recently. As a freshman at Kirkwood Community College, Strand averaged five points and 4.2 rebounds per game in helping the team to the Junior College National Championship. She was a three-sport athlete for the Cyclones of Ames HS, earning four letters in cross country and three each in soccer and basketball. She was a three-time all-conference selection in cross country and an honorable mention all-conference pick in basketball as a senior. She was also a multiple time honor roll selection and a two-time academic all-conference pick.
On The Horizon
After hosting New Mexico State on Tuesday, the Bears then head to sunny Cancun, Mexico for the Cancun MTE Classic where they will face #1 Connecticut, Florida State and Washington. They close out the calendar year with a tilt against Johnson & Wales on December 28.
