@UNCBearsWBB Heads to UCLA for Third Round of WNIT

Thursday, March 26

Los Angeles, Calif.

8:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

UCLA

3/24/2015 1:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

The Bears and Bruins face off in Pauley Pavilion Thursday night for the third round of the WNIT

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

Northern Colorado women's basketball faces UCLA for the first time ever on Thursday night in California.

Game 35
Who: UCLA 15-18, 8-10 Pac 12
When: Thursday, March 26, at 7:00 p.m. PT (8:00 p.m. MT)
Where: Los Angeles, Calif., Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Series History: First ever meeting
Game Links: Video | Audio | Live Stats
Game Notes: Northern Colorado | UCLA

Bear Facts
• Northern Colorado's victory over South Dakota Sunday night gave them 22 for the year, breaking the previous season high of 21.
• The Bears actually hold a WNIT record with 23 steals in 2012 when they played against Colorado.
• Northern Colorado has won 12 of its past 13 games.
• D'shara Strange became UNC's all-time leading scorer Sunday. She passed Missy Borell (1999-2003) who had 1,866 point. Strange currently has 1,879.
• Making the third round of the WNIT is the furthest in any postseason event the Bears have gone as a Division I program.
• Rebecca Howell and Amber Van Deudekom came up with big bench minutes Sunday night combining for 10 points and six rebounds.
• Over the final five minutes of the game against South Dakota, UNC held the Coyotes to just two points and forced six turnovers.
• The Bears have a top 19 assist to turnover ratio of 1.19.
• UNC is ranked 59th in the nation for field goal percentage, shooting 42.7 percent a game.

Scouting the Bruins
UCLA earned the Pac 12's automatic berth into the WNIT after finishing as the conferences highest ranked team to not make the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins are a young squad with 10 underclassmen including six freshman. UCLA is 15-18 overall, finishing 8-10 in the Pac 12. They played a tough schedule facing 11 ranked teams, five of them in non-conference play. Jordin Canada is the team's second leading scorer as a freshman with 11.0 points a game while leading the team in assists (4.3). Junior Nirra Fields leads UCLA overall with 15.2 points a game, 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 steals. The Bruins made it to the third round of the WNIT by defeating Cal State-Bakersfield 70-54 in the first round, and winning at San Diego in the second round 63-58.

New Sheriff in Town
Kamie Ethridge takes over as head coach for Northern Colorado after being an assistant at Kansas State the past 18 years. Ethridge has an accomplished career both as a coach and on the court as a player. She is the 12th head coach in the school's history. Former head coach Jamie White took the head job at Fresno State.

Picked 4th/5th
The coaches and media spoke in October predicting the finishing order for the upcoming basketball season, pinning the Bears fourth by the coaches and fifth by the media. Defending champion North Dakota was picked first by both groups.

Against the Pac 12
UNC is 14-21 all-time against Pac 12 opponents. This is the first time since 2012 that the Bears have faced anyone from the conference. That season UNC played Colorado in the WNIT first round and Utah in the regular season. Northern Colorado dropped both of those games. This is the first ever meeting with UCLA

On this Date
This is the first time UNC has played on March 26th and the latest into the year the team has ever played. The previous date was March 24th

Schedule Nuggets
The Bears face a tough slate this season going against four teams who qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year and another five that participated in the WNIT. NCAA: North Dakota, Idaho, Florida Gulf Coast, Nebraska. WNIT: USF, South Dakota State, SMU, Montana, Southern Utah.

Record Watch
D'shara Strange is already apart of many career all-time records lists, and will be moving up them throughout the year. She is 13th all-time in blocks. Strange now sits in 5th place for assists at 323.

Strange is not the only Bear apart of the programs history books, Stephanie Lee is on a good amount of lists as well. Lee currently sits seventh in free throws made. Lee is also second in blocked shots needing 15 more to become the school's leader.

1,000 Point Club
Stephanie Lee became the 19th player in program history to join the 1,000 point club when she scored in the Bears game against South Florida this season. She currently sits 8th with 1,4018 points. Lee joined current teammate D'shara Strange in the club. Strange has 1,879 which has her in first all-time. She is the fifth player in school history to reach the 1,500 point mark, and only second player ever in program history to reach the 1,600 mark. The only other player to make it, is UNC's leading scorer Missy Borell (1999-2003) with 1,866 points.

Scoring Machine
D'shara Strange become the school's all-time leader in scoring on March 22 when she scored her 1,867th point. Strange passed Missy Borrell (1999-2003) who was the preivous leader with 1,866 points

Month of March
Northern Colorado is 28-46 all-time in the month of March.

Pass the Rock
Senior point guard Lindsay Mallon now sits 6th all-time in career assists. She is currently sixth in the Big Sky averaging 4.2 assists per game. She broke the schools Division I record for assists (146 in a season previously held by Courteney Stoermer from 2010-11 with 124.

Cleaning the Glass
D'shara Strange became the first player in Northern Colorado history to grab 1,000 rebounds in her career. She currently has 1,032 rebounds. Strange is only the sixth player in Big Sky to have 1,000 rebounds.

Record Setting Year
Northern Colorado set a few team DI season records already this season. The team has scored the most points (2,247), field goals made (837), 3-point field goals made (243) and assists (536).

It was not just the team, but a couple of individuals that also broke records too. Stephanie Lee broke the blocked shots (75). D'shara Strange broke the scoring (568), steals (100), rebounds (297) and offensive rebounds (85) mark.

Protect the Ball
Opponents should be extra careful when they have the ball with D'shara Strange nearby. Strange is UNC's all-time leader in steals with 344. Strange is now just the Big Sky's record holder for steals, passing Montana's Liz Holz (1986-89)

From Downtown
Kyleigh Hiser and Kourteney Zadina have been feeling it from behind the arc this season hitting 73 and 58 3-pointers, respectively. That ranks first and fourth in the schools DI history.

What's on Deck?
If the Bears win against UCLA, UNC will face either Sacramento State or Saint Mary's sometime between March 28-30.