@UNCBearsWBB Start Three-Game Road Trip Saturday at North Dakota

Saturday, January 30

Grand Forks, N.D.

6:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

North Dakota

Photo by: Rob Trubia

1/28/2016 1:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Northern Colorado women's basketball opens a three-game road trip at North Dakota

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado women's basketball looks to both extend and end a streak when they take the court on Saturday night when they take on North Dakota. The Bears will be looking to extend their home win streak to three, while ending a seven-game road losing streak.

For all the information on the game visit GameDay Central.

Game Notes: Northern Colorado | North Dakota | Big Sky

The Matchup
Northern Colorado and North Dakota come into Saturday night's matchup with identical 4-4 Big Sky records, as they jockey for position on the Road to Reno.

Both teams swept Northern Arizona and Southern Utah last weekend with some big individual performances. UNC's Savannah Scott averaged 9.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 5.0 steals.

While Mia Loyd for UND put up 18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

Scouting The Fighting Hawks
North Dakota is led by Big Sky Preseason Player of the Year Mia Loyd, who has been living up to her billing. Coming into Saturday night's game Loyd is averaging 12.4 points and 8.0 rebounds, ranking in the top 15 for both categories in the Big Sky.

Although Loyd is the preseason Player of the Year, Makailah Dyer leads UND in scoring with 12.9 points a game.

The Fighting Hawks are coming into the contest riding a three game win streak, including a huge win at Montana two weeks ago on a buzzer beater.

Within the Big Sky, North Dakota ranks near the bottom in scoring averaging 61.2 points a game.

UND does well on the limiting their opponents chances by controlling the boards with a rebounding margin of +7.2, holding opponents to just 31.5 a game.

Last Time Out
Northern Colorado extended its home win streak to four-games on Saturday, defeating Northern Arizona 79-55. In the win, Savannah Scott just missed out on triple-double, finishing the game with 10 assists, eight points and eight rebounds.

Last Time Against North Dakota
The last time the Bears and Fighting Hawks faced, it was a back and forth game that featured 11 lead changes and three ties.

The senior duo of Stephanie Lee and Lindsay Mallon helped lead the Bears to the 72-64 victory and advance to the Big Sky Tournament Semifinals.

Lee had 24 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks in the game. While Mallon added in 11 points to go with eight assists and eight rebounds.

Against the Big Sky
UNC is 98-120 all-time against Big Sky opponents. Since joining the conference in the 2006-07 season, the Bears are 88-84 all-time. Last season the Bears went 12-6 in the conference to finish third.

On This Date
The Bears are an even 4-4 when playing on January 30. Away from the friendly confines of Bank of Colorado, UNC has gone 1-2 on the date. The last time the team played on the 30th was in 2014 when they hosted and defeated Portland State 77-60.

Month of January
Northern Colorado is just a bit below .500 in the first month of a new year. The Bears have accumulated a 176-179 mark in January. Under current head coach Kamie Ethridge the team is 7-8.

Career-High Weekend
A pair of Bears set career-highs against Southern Utah on January 21. Savannah Smith scored 20 points on solid shooting and also grabbed a career-high six rebounds in the game.

Savannah Scott joined in on the career-high weekend, setting a few herself. On Thursday, Scott set a career-high in steals grabbing six against SUU. Meanwhile on Saturday, she set a new high for assists with 10, in the team's win over NAU.

Savvy Taking Off
Redshirt freshman Savannah Smith had herself a breakout weekend with the Bears. Against Southern Utah and Northern Arizona she averaged 19.0 points and 5.0 rebounds. She shot 43.3 percent from the field on the weekend including hitting on six 3-pointers, some from NBA range.

Finding Her Spot
Freshman forward Courtney Smith has grown into her role for the Bears this year. Over the past five games she has played some valuable minutes for the team. In those games she is averaging 17.6 minutes and 6.8 points giving UNC improved depth in the front court.

UNC's Swiss Army Knife
Savannah Scott has turned into UNC's Swiss army knife this year, doing it all for the Bears. She leads the team in points (10.1), rebounds (4.8) and steals (2.1) while also being second in assists (2.8).

Road Woes
UNC has struggled on the road this season going 1-7 in true road games. The Bears are averaging 54.6 points a game way from Bank of Colorado Arena and allowing opponents to score 62.2. In the team's first seven road games, opponents have outshot UNC .434-to-.374.

Comeback Week
Northern Colorado had a pair of comeback victories to open home conference play. Against Idaho State UNC had its second biggest comeback as a program after overcoming a 14 point deficit. Kourteney Zadina hit the game-winning shot with 1.9 seconds left to secure the win. Against Weber State on that Saturday UNC once again overcame a double figure deficit. This one of the 12 point variety when Savannah Scott hit the game winner as time expired.

Finding Their Roles
Northern Colorado seems to be settling into its roles on the team as conference play has started. While Kourteney Zadina and Kyleigh Hiser are looked at as sharp shooters, Savannah Scott and Kianna Williams have stepped up as stat sheet stuffers. Another couple roles that have been well defined for the team are the solid inside presence of Rebecca Howell and Courtney Smith on both ends of the court.

D-D-D-Defense
The Bears have really stepped it up defensively as Big Sky play has started. In the team's first eight Big Sky games, Northern Colorado is holding teams to just 57.2 points a game, ranking first in the conference.

UNC put the clamps down on defense last Thursday night in the second half. For the half the Bears made a stop on 24 of Idaho State's 31 possessions. They also held ISU to just two points in the third quarter and 1-of-12 shooting. The Bengals were held scoreless for an 11:06 period allowing UNC to come back and take a seven point lead.

Against Montana State, defense once again proved to be important in UNC's comeback attempt. In the third quarter of the game, the Bears held the Bobcats to just 2-13 shooting and six points overall.

The Bears defense had its best performance to date against Southern Utah (1/21). Not only did they hold the T-Birds to 44 points, but they forced 21 turnovers, 10 via steals and held them to 28.6 percent shooting.

Kiwi Stuffing the Stat Sheet
Kianna Williams has taken off in her sophomore season doing it all for the Bears. She ranks fifth on the team in scoring (7.0 ppg), tied for third in assists (2.3 apg), second in rebounds (4.2 rpg) and second in steals (1.6 spg).

70 is the Mark
Coach Ethridge always preaches to her team that if they score 70 points they are in a good position to win. This season that has happened in four of the teams seven wins.

From Downtown
The Bears have been feeling it from behind the arc this season averaging 8.2 made threes a game. That ranks tied for 19th best in the nation, but only third best in the Big Sky. Both Idaho (3rd) and Sacramento State (1st) are ahead of UNC.

Valuing the Ball
Once again this year UNC is valuing the rock, and forcing teams into turnovers. They rank 20th in the country and second in the Big Sky with a 1.21 assist-turnover ratio.

RPI Report
UNC is ranked 172 as of 1/27, fifth best in the Big Sky. Idaho is the highest at 123.

What's On Deck?
The Bears will stay on the road next week, traveling to Weber State (2/4) and Idaho State (2/6). The teams have already squared off twice this year with UNC winning both in thrilling come-back fashion.

Around the Den
Men's basketball starts at three-game home stand on Saturday when they host North Dakota. The Bears are coming off a weekend road sweep of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.

Wrestling hits the road for a pair of non-conference duals first at Boise State (1/29) and then Oregon State (1/31)

The tennis season starts this week for both the men and women. The men start with a pair of neutral site matches in Colorado Springs on Friday and Saturday vs UC Davis and Abilene Christian. The women open the season at home on Saturday and Sunday vs CSU-Pueblo and Metro State.

Swimming and Diving head northeast to Kearny, Nebraska to compete in a tri-meet with Nebraska-Kearny and CSU-Pueblo.