WBB Preview: Colorado State and South Dakota Mines
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Northern Colorado Notes | Big Sky Conference Notes
Back In Colorado
Northern Colorado concludes a five-game road trip at Colorado State on Thursday, before returning to Butler-Hancock for a 5:05 tip-off against South Dakota Mines on Saturday. The Bears are looking for their first win of the road swing against the Rams, hoping to snap a four-game losing skid.
Last Time Out
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Northern Colorado used a 32-14 run over the final 7:55 of the game on Sunday, but it was not enough as the Bears fell to UC Santa Barbara 63-54. The Bears trailed by 27, 49-22, with 7:57 to play, but the team was finally able to find the basket, shooting .500 (11-for-22) throughout the rest of the game in mounting their furious comeback. The scoring started with a three-pointer from senior guard Courtney Stoermer, one of her three triples on the evening and the defense forced several turnovers during the final stretch. Junior forward Kaisha Brown led the team with 14 points, nailing four three pointers and she had a team-best seven rebounds, including five on the offensive end of the floor. Freshman guard D'shara Strange scored 12, while Stoermer was also in double figures with 11. Strange and Stoermer also had four assists to lead the Bears and sophomore forward Lauren Oosdyke had five steals.
NC vs Colorado State
Colorado State owns the 18-10 advantage in the all-time series against Northern Colorado, but the Bears have won two of the last three games, including a 65-56 victory last year in Greeley. NC is 3-11 in the series in Fort Collins and have lost 10 straight in Moby Arena. In two games against the Rams, junior forward Kaisha Brown is shooting .500 (5-10) from the field with three three-pointers, while six of Courtney Stoermer's 12 rebounds in three games are offensive. Stoermer also has nine assists and four steals against the instate rival.
Scouting Colorado State
The Rams are 4-2 after winning their last three home games. At their annual Thanksgiving tournament, CSU defeated Texas Southern (80-60) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (90-57). Kim Mestdagh leads the team with 19.3 points per game and has already made 26 triples on the season. Chatilla van Grinsven is second on the team with 13.2 points and leads the way with 8.2 rebounds a game, while Sam Martin also averages double figures in scoring with 10.3 per game. The Rams are outscoring opponents by 6.8 as well as outrebounding them 6.5 per contest. The team is prone to turnovers, however, averaging 20.3 per outing.
NC vs South Dakota Mines
The Bears and Hardrockers have never met in women's basketball before. South Dakota Mines is the sixth first-time opponent Northern Colorado has played this season.
Scouting South Dakota Mines
The Hardrockers are an NAIA school and members of the Dakota Athletic Conference and sport a record of 5-3 with a conference game against Black Hills State on Wednesday before playing the Bears. Jerika Ihnen and Ariel Granillo are both averaging 15.3 points per game to lead the 'Rockers, while Hillary Hawkins is right behind them with 12.9 a contest. Ihnen also leads the team with 7.1 rebounds a game and Granillo is getting almost four assists a night. Both Hawkins and Renae Waters are from Colorado on the Mines roster.
On This Date
Northern Colorado has played 15 times in history on Dec. 2 with a record of 12-3, including a great 6-1 mark on the road. Winners of their last five on the 2nd, the Bears last won a 79-77 overtime decision against Colorado Christian in 2009. On Dec. 4, the Bears are 8-2 all-time with a perfect 4-0 mark in Butler-Hancock. A season ago, the Bears upset Wichita State, 65-54 in Wichita.
What Can Brown Do For You?
Junior forward Kaisha Brown now leads the team in scoring this season, averaging 11.6 points per game. Brown has scored in double figures four times this year, including a team-best 14 against UC Santa Barbara on Sunday. Brown has also nailed at least one 3-pointer in all seven games.
A Bunch Of Thieves
Junior forward Lauren Oosdyke became the third player this season to record for our more steals in a game when she notched a career-best five thefts at UC Santa Barbara on Sunday. Both guards D'shara Strange (three times) and Amy Marin have had at least one game with four or more steals.
Class Breakdown
The Bears have started two freshmen, one sophomore, one junior and one senior in each of the last two games. Below is the breakdown of how each class has scored this season.
|
|
Fr |
So |
Jr |
Sr |
|
South Dakota |
8 |
26 |
15 |
8 |
|
Air Force |
8 |
25 |
16 |
30 |
|
Santa Clara |
16 |
15 |
20 |
14 |
|
Central Michigan |
16 |
25 |
15 |
18 |
|
Northeastern |
22 |
16 |
11 |
4 |
|
UC Irvine |
23 |
8 |
6 |
15 |
|
UC Santa Barbara |
12 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
Double Trouble
Freshman guard D'shara Strange became the first Bear this season to record a double-double, scoring 14 and grabbing 10 rebounds against Northeastern. She backed that up with 17 points and 12 rebounds at UC Irvine and is now one of five players in the Big Sky with multiple double-doubles on the year. Strange becomes the fourth active player on the team to record double figures in two categories, joining Courtney Stoermer, Lauren Oosdyke and Jayne Strand.
Defending the Three
In the first NCAA rankings, released Nov. 28, Northern Colorado ranks 25th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just .235 from beyond the arc.
Race To 100
Four different Bears are in the race to be the first to score 100 points this season. Junior forward Kaisha Brown has the current edge, with 81 points, while sophomore Lauren Oosdyke (79), freshman D'shara Strange (78) and senior Courtney Stoermer (71) are all right behind her.
Taking Advantage
This season, Northern Colorado is forcing 20.4 turnovers per game and 30.6 percent of its points are coming off those turnovers. The Bears are averaging 19.0 points per game off opponent turnovers so far in 2010-11.
Milestone Watch
Several Bears are approaching career milestones. With one more three-point, senior guard Courtney Stoermer will tie for second on the career triples chart. She is also just four rebounds shy of 400. Junior forward Kaisha Brown needs 37 points for 500 and 20 rebounds for 200 in her career and sophomore forward Lauren Oosdyke needs 25 points to score 400 and her next steal with be her 50th.
Downtown Kaisha Brown
Junior forward Kaisha Brown has made at least one three-pointers in every game this season and has made one or more in the last 15 games in which she's attempted a shot. Brown now has 110 three-pointers in her career, needing just four more break into the career top-10 list at Northern Colorado. If Brown continues at her clip of 1.64 three-pointers per game throughout her career, she should break into the top 10 in Big Sky Conference history as well as she's on pace for 195.
A Strange Thief
Freshman D'shara Strange currently leads the Big Sky Conference in steals per game at 3.1 a contest. Twice this year she has tallied five in a game and already has 22. If she keeps up her current thefts, with 29 games on the schedule, she will shatter the single season record of 85 held by Lisa Burch (1990-91) as Strange is on pace for 91. In the first NCAA rankings, Strange ranks 33rd overall in steals and is the second freshman on the list.
Good Things Happen
When scoring at least 70 points under Coach Jaime White, Northern Colorado has a record of 29-7, including a 1-1 mark in 2010-11. A year ago, the Bears went 8-2 when putting at least 70 on the scoreboard.
Picked Eighth
The Bears were picked to finish eighth in the Big Sky preseason polls voted on by both the coaches and media. Montana was picked to win the title by both groups, while Eastern Washington, Portland State and Montana State are in the top four, respectively.
Moving On Up
Senior guard Courtney Stoermer moved up one more spot on the career scoring charts at Northern Colorado to ninth. She now has 1,122 career points, needing just 20 points to take over eighth on the list.
Time Invested
Senior guard Courtney Stoermer broke the Northern Colorado all-time record for career minutes played in just the second game of her senior season. Stoermer has now played 3,488 minutes in 97 games with the Bears, breaking the previous record of 3,256 minutes by Shelley Lindstrom (1988-92). Stoermer averages 36.0 minutes per game through her career and has played 40 or more minutes in 30 games.
Free For All
Forward Lauren Oosdyke and guard Courtney Stoermer became just the eighth and ninth players in Northern Colorado history to make 100 free throws in a season. Oosdyke sank 102 free throws, while Stoermer had 101, during 2009-10, coming within two and three of breaking the school's Division I record of 104 by Heather Barbour (2006-07).
She's Everywhere
Senior guard Courtney Stoermer already ranks in the top five in four different statistical career categories at Northern Colorado. Stoermer is now third in steals (175) and three-pointers made (143), and fourth in assists (324) and free throws made (297). Stoermer also ranks ninth in scoring (1,122) and 10th in blocked shots (62).
Lucky Number Six
Twice during the 2009-10 season, forward Kaisha Brown tied the Division I school record for three-pointers in a game with six. Brown hit six at Cal State Northridge and against Portland State. She now ranks 13th in school history with 105 three-pointers, needing nine more to break into the school's top 10.
Stop Thief!
Senior guard Courtney Stoermer ended the 2009-10 season with 58 steals and is now third on the Northern Colorado all-time charts with 175. She needs just 14 steals to tie the school record of 189 steals held by Renee L'Heureux (1981-85).
Going Streaking
Northern Colorado has now made at least one three-pointer in 274 consecutive games, dating all the way back to Jan. 20, 2001 at South Dakota State.
All-Tournament
Freshman guard D'shara Strange was named to the Hawkeye Challenge All-Tournament team at the conclusion. Strange averaged 11.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game in the two contests and shot .500 (11-for-22) from the field.
