Hot Night Behind Arc Leads WBB To First Victory Of Season
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Six different Northern Colorado women's basketball players hit at least one three-pointer in the game as the team hit 15 in a 79-42 victory at Cal State Northridge on Friday evening.
The Bears (1-3) were led by sophomore Kaisha Brown with a perfect 6-for-6 evening from beyond the arc, scoring a career-best 20 points in 23 minutes. Junior guard Courtney Stoermer hit five triples for 17 points and senior guard Whitley Cox added 13 points and tallied a season-best seven assists in the win.
Junior transfer Jayne Strand led the team with a season-best nine rebounds, while junior Lara Merritt, on her 21st birthday, brought down eight boards.
Brown, Stoermer, Cox, Victoria Timm, Lizzie Cooper and Emily Elliott were the six players who connected on at least one three-pointer on the evening.
"Courtney Stoermer and Kaisha Brown both did a great job from three tonight," said Head Coach Jaime White. "To score 79 points and keep turnovers below 15 is a great team effort. I also thought Whitley did a great job with seven assists. She pushed the tempo and did a great job in the open court. Northridge had their best kid injured in the last game and they're a totally different team than we've played without her. Our players were defending a 5-8 post instead of 6-8 and we did a good job of defending a much quicker game."
The Bears tallied a season-best 23 assists on 31 baskets and shot a season-best .508 from the field including .536 in the second half. NC also out-rebounded CSUN 42-31 and held the Matadors to .296 from the field.
Northridge was led by Analee Viena-Lota with 16 points, while Bridgette Conejo scored 10 and had a team-best seven rebounds.
Brown took over in the first half, scoring 14 points off four three-pointers, including the first one of the game and the last two of the half. With the score tied at 8-8, the Bears went on a 13-0 run behind three straight triples by Timm and Stoermer and they never looked back.
Brown started the second half the same way she did the first, with a triple, as the Bears scored eight of the first 10 in the second stanza to open up a 30-point lead, 49-19. Northridge scored the next eight but NC kept its foot on the pedal, winning by 37, 79-42.
The school records for three-pointers in a game is 18 for the team against Colorado School of Mines on Nov. 28, 2003, while two different players have hit eight (Amber Elliott vs South Dakota State, 3-1-03; Lindy Kirkland vs Metro State, 12-7-02). The .682 shooting percentage from the three-point line is a new Division I record, bettering the .579 from last year at Air Force (11/14/2008) with a minimum of 10 makes.
Northern Colorado returns to the hardwood Saturday evening in the conclusion of the Warner Center Marriott Classic against Providence. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (Pacific).
