University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Women's Hoops Ready For Season Opener
11/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Complete Game Notes
Kicking Off
The 2008-09 season for the Northern Colorado women's basketball team begins on Friday at the Air Force Academy at 5:00 p.m. The Bears are coming off a pair of exhibition game victories over Regis and Colorado State-Pueblo and are looking to win their second season opener in as many years after defeating San Francisco in 2007.
The Series
Northern Colorado is 13-21 all-time against Air Force and has lost five straight dating back to the renewal of the rivalry in 2003. The Bears are 5-12 at the Academy and are 8-9 in meetings in Greeley and look to snap a two-game losing streak at Air Force. This will be the third time the two teams have met to open up the season as the Bears dropped a 64-56 decision in 1992-93 and a 67-60 decision in 2005-06.
Season Openers
Northern Colorado is 18-16 all-time in season openers and 1-4 since the reclassification to Division I began. Last season, the Bears defeated San Francisco 75-51 in the first game of the year. The team is 8-10 in season openers away from Butler-Hancock, which also includes a 3-2 mark in neutral site games. The last road win to begin a season was a 77-54 victory over Adams State in Eaton on Nov. 23, 2002.
The Last Time
When Northern Colorado and Air Force met last season, sophomore forward Kate Kevorken attempted a three-pointer at the buzzer that rattled around before rimming out which would have forced overtime. Unfortunately, the Bears lost 56-53 despite having three players in double figures in points. Guard Whitley Cox led the squad with 13 before leaving the game with a season-ending injury, while guard Courtney Stoermer added 12 points and Danielle Hagen had 10. Jamie Schroeder also led the club with 10 rebounds.
Exhibition Review
The Bears won both exhibition games, defeating Regis 85-71 and Colorado State-Pueblo 70-53. Against Regis, five Bears were in double figures in scoring, led by senior Jamie Schroeder with 14 and she led all players with nine rebounds. Junior Whitley Cox scored 13, freshman Kaisha Brown had 12, sophomore Courtney Stoermer added 11 and freshman Cassie Lambrecht chipped in 10. Against CSU-Pueblo, Brown scored a team-best 14 points, while Schroeder scored 13. Cox was one point shy of a double-double as she scored nine and brought down 11 boards to go along with six assists.
Quick Recap
Northern Colorado posted a 14-16 record in 2007-08, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament, where they lost to Portland State, 82-69. In league action the Bears finished fifth with an 8-8 record, improving their conference tally by six wins from 2006-07. The nine-game overall turnaround was the 11th best in the NCAA.
Say Hello
The Bears welcomed seven new players to the family in the offseason and several made immediate impacts during the exhibition games, with others expected to contribute after redshirt seasons. Kaisha Brown scored in double figures in both contests, joining NC from Spirit Lake Iowa, bringing the total of Iowa players to three on the roster (Chelsie Luhring, Courtney Stoermer). A trio of Colorado players joined the Bears in Cassie Lambrecht, who is the younger sister of former Bear Kendra, Victoria Timm from Holyoke HS and Ashlyn Rhule, who originally went to the University of Wyoming to run cross country. Forward Lauren Oosdyke becomes the second California player, joining Kate Kevorken, while center Courtney Kranz hails from Mendota Heights, Minn. The lone junior college player to join the squad is center Brittany Fernandez, who hails from Kansas City via Butler County Community College where she was rivals with senior Jamie Schroeder while Schroeder played at Colby Community College.
Gaining Respect
The Big Sky Conference announced recently 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.
A Look Ahead
After opening the season at Air Force, the Bears will host San Jose State on Tuesday for the home opener before playing five straight away from the friendly confines of Butler-Hancock. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Bears and Spartans as the teams tip-off at 7:05 p.m.
A New Voice
For the third straight season, Northern Colorado welcomes a new play-by-play voice to the KFKA broadcasts. Chris Lewis will handle the call for the Bears all season and can be found on the dial at 1310 AM or www.1310kfka.com.
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.
Oh So Close
Guard Kate Kevorken finished the 2007-08 season just two three-pointers shy of the Northern Colorado single season record of 72. Her 70 triples ties for third with Amber Elliott from 2003-04, while it also ranks as the ninth most in Big Sky Conference history and was the third highest total in the league behind Rebecca Mercer (Montana State) who had 78 and Sonya Rogers (Montana) who made 72.
Winning Ways
The 14 wins 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.
Making The Freebies
Last season's team ended the year shooting .763 from the free throw line, breaking the old school record of .719 from 1989-90. The percentage ranked third in the Big Sky Conference and 18th in the NCAA Division I statistics. NC improved its overall free throw percentage during every month of the season. The Bears started the year shooting just .696 in November, then shot .738 in December, .778 in January, .810 in February and .803 during the four games in March.
Freshmen Tandem
Northern Colorado had the best freshmen tandem in the Big Sky Conference last season in Courtney Stoermer and Kate Kevorken. The pair combined for 626 points, 257 rebounds, 144 assists, 25 blocked shots and 56 steals.
Bears Among National Leaders
Center Danielle Hagen ended the season ranked 34th among Division I players in rebounds with 9.4 per game and 62nd in free throw percentage, shooting .821 from the charity stripe. Forward Jamie Schroeder was 46th in the same category, hitting at an .832 clip. Guard Kate Kevorken also ranked 89th in three-point field goal percentage at .350 and 57th in three-pointers made per game, hitting 2.3 a game. The team ranked 23rd in the same category with their 6.8 a contest and were 18th in free throw percentage, shooting .761 from the charity stripe.
Going Streaking
Northern Colorado has now made at least one three-pointer in 207 consecutive games, dating all the way back to Jan. 20, 2001 at South Dakota State.
On The Horizon
Northern Colorado continues to inch closer to a large program milestone. The win against Sacramento State marked the 493rd win in program history and the team now needs seven for 500. The Bears are 493-483 all-time.
