Women's Basketball to Face Giant in Paris, No. 3 Oklahoma on Sunday

Dec. 14, 2006

Northern Colorado (2-7) at No. 3 Oklahoma (8-0)
Sunday, Dec. 17 * 1 p.m. MT
Lloyd Noble Center (12,000) * Norman, Okla.

Northern Colorado at No. 3 Oklahoma Game Notes in PDF Format
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BEARS TO TAKE ON GIANT CHALLENGE IN NO. 3 OKLAHOMA, PARIS
• The University of Northern Colorado women's basketball team will make the trek to Norman, Okla., on Sunday, Dec. 17, to face a giant in Naismith Award candidate Courtney Paris and the No. 3-ranked Oklahoma Sooners at 1 p.m. mountain time. OU is coming off a Sweet 16 appearance last season and is averaging 83.2 points/game en route to a perfect 8-0 record.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Bears came up just short in a 75-63 loss to Cal State Fullerton last Saturday in California. Northern Colorado out shot the Titans but could not overcome its bad-luck ball handling, turning the ball over 21 times, which led to 25 CSF points.

• Senior forward Heather Barbour scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. It was the 23rd time in the last 26 games Barbour scored in double-figures.

• Senior center Nicole Ford had her best game since the 2004-05 season, dropping 15 points and 10 rebounds on the Titans. It was her third career double-double.

• Despite the loss, Northern Colorado's mark of 63 points was its highest this season. The Bears also had their best shooting performance of the season, turning in a 45.5 percent showing from the floor.

• Senior guard Bailey Dillon tied her career-high for 3-pointers made with four to finish with 12 points.

SCOUTING THE SOONERS
• Oklahoma is 8-0 and has been ranked third behind North Carolina and Maryland all season. The Sooners made a Sweet 16 appearance last season, led by Courtney Paris' amazing year in which she became the first player in women's basketball history to record 700 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks. Paris leads Oklahoma this season in points (21.6/game) and rebounds (14.6/game). Before making their Sweet 16 appearance last season, the Sooners went undefeated in the Big XII and shot off 19 consecutive wins in the regular season. Oklahoma's closest game this season was a nine-point win at UCLA on Nov. 21.

• The Sooners are led by Sherri Coale, who is 212-113 in her 11th season at the helm of Oklahoma. She has led the Sooners to eight straight postseason appearances, with the past seven being trips to the NCAA Tournament. Coale's finest achievement was an appearance in the 2002 NCAA Championship game.

BEARS STARTING TO GRASP HOLD OF OFFENSE
• Whenever a new coaching staff comes in, it always takes time to adjust to a new system and philosophy of coaching. But nine games into the season, it looks like the Bears are starting to get a good grasp of Jaime White's offense. Not only has their scoring average gone up over the past five games, but they also had their best shooting performance of the season at Cal State Fullerton. Northern Colorado also has had four players score in double-figures in three out of the past four games.

FOX EXPECTED TO RETURN TO LINEUP AFTER MISSING GAME WITH INJURY
• Freshman forward Tina Fox is expected to return to the Northern Colorado starting lineup against No. 3 Oklahoma on Sunday after missing the Cal State Fullerton contest with a fractured nose that she sustained against Colorado State on Dec. 6. Fox is third on the team in scoring with 7.3 points per game and second in rebounding with 5.3 boards per game.

BEARS AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
• The Bears are 0-3 against ranked opponents since reclassifying to Division I in 2003-04. Their closest game was when they took No. 24-ranked Maryland down to the wire in an 87-79 loss in 2004-05 at College,Park, Md. Last season, Northern Colorado dropped an 89-53 game to eventual national champion and No. 4 Maryland. This season, the Bears lost 82-52 to then No. 24 Louisville in Greeley. The No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners are the highest ranked team Northern Colorado has ever faced as a member of Division I.

BARBOUR LEADS WITH CONSISTENCY
• Senior forward Heather Barbour not only leads the Bears in scoring with 13.8 points/game, she has also scored in double-figures every game this season. Dating back to last season, she has scored in double-figures 23 out of her last 26 games.

BEARS PICKED TO FINISH 7TH IN BIG SKY
• Both the media and coaches chose the Bears to finish seventh in the Big Sky Conference this season. Northern Colorado defeated its lone Big Sky opponent last season, Weber State, 65-51, at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion. WSU made all the way to the Big Sky Conference Tournament final against champion Northern Arizona.

BEARS ADD FIVE TO 2006-07 SQUAD
• Five newcomers join the Bears in 2006-07, with one sitting out as a redshirt due to NCAA transfer rules. Chelsie Luhring, a 5-10 guard who transferred from Drake University, will practice with the Bears this season. She saw playing time with a team that went 17-12 last season and made it to the WNIT.

• Luhring is joined by freshmen Achlee Edwards (Aurora, Colo.), Tina Fox (North Platte, Neb.), Sara Hemmings (Greeley, Colo.) and Kaley Hoover (Emory, Texas).

WHITE ANNOUNCES SIGNING OF FIVE FOR 2007-08 TEAM
• Head coach Jaime White announced the signing of five student-athletes to National-Letters-of-Intent for the 2007-08 season on Thursday, Nov. 9.

• Kate Kevorken, a 6-0 guard from Thousand Oaks, Calif., averaged 18.2 points, 6.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game last season at Thousand Oaks High School.

• Both Lara Merritt and Jaime Schroeder hail from Wyoming. Merritt, a 6-1 post player, from Cheyenne, averaged 7.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last season at Cheyenne High School. Schroeder, a 5-9 guard from Douglas, will come to the Bears from Colby Community College in Kansas. She averaged 11.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game at Colby.

• Courtney Stoermer, a 5-10 guard from Coralville, Iowa, averaged 14.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 3.5 per game last season at Iowa City West High School. She was also a 2006 first team all-state soccer selection.

• Cayla Maneotis, a 6-5 post player from Craig, Colo., 10.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and led the state with 3.5 blocks per game last season at Moffat County High School.

ON DECK
• Northern Colorado will head up to Wichita, Kan., to face off against the Wichita State Shockers of the Missouri Valley Conference at 11 a.m. mountain time on Tuesday.