Second Half Gets Away From Women's Hoops

BOX SCORE: vs Florida State

CANCUN, Mexico - The Northern Colorado women's basketball team trailed Florida State by just seven points at the half, 30-23, but an 18-point run by the Seminoles to start the second half sealed their victory, 75-32 in the first round of the MTE Caribbean Classic. The Bears move to 4-5 on the year, while the Seminoles improve to 9-2.

Junior guard Whitley Cox led the Bears with seven points, while freshman guard Cassie Lambrecht and sophomore Kate Kevorken each scored six. Senior forward Jamie Schroeder led the team with six rebounds. Freshman center Cayla Maneotis also led the club with three blocked shots as the Bears tallied a season-high nine in the game.

Florida State was led by Jacinta Monroe with 14 points in just 17 minutes. Cierra Bravard scored 13 and had 12 rebounds, while Tanae Davis-Cain chipped in 10 points. Angel Gray had a game-best four assists and five steals on the afternoon.

"We played a great first half of basketball," said Head Coach Jaime White. "Now we need to put together two great halves. We played a very physical team today and I thought we handled it well for the first 20 minutes."

Florida State scored the first point of the game on a free throw, but a three-pointer by Kevorken gave the Bears the early 3-1 lead. The Seminoles scored the next five, but another three, this one by Cox knotted the score at 6-6 with 16:06 on the clock. With the scored 10-8, FSU used a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 19-8 with 10:31 in the first half and a Cox jumper stopped the streak.

Trailing by 11, 21-10, Northern Colorado used a five-point run to cut into the lead and make the score 21-15. FSU scored seven of nine to extend its lead back to 11, 28-17 with 3:52 left until another Kevorken triple made the score 28-20 and a three-pointer by Lizzie Cooper took the score to 30-23 at halftime.

The Bears struggled offensively in the second-half, scoring a season-low nine points, with Lambrecht scoring six of them, while Florida State scored 45 points and grabbed 36 rebounds during the second period.

The tournament does not get any easier for the Bears as they face unanimous No. 1 Connecticut tomorrow evening. Game time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (Central)/5:00 p.m. (Mountain). The game can be heard online at www.1310kfka.com.