@UNCBearsWBB Looks to Extend Win Streak to Five Against Eastern Michigan

Sunday, November 27

San Antonio, Texas

11:00 am

University of Northern Colorado

Eastern Michigan

11/26/2016 12:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Northern Colorado women's basketball looks to close out its trip to Texas with a 2-0 record when they face Eastern Michigan

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. - Northern Colorado women's basketball team will look to continue the momentum on Sunday when they face Eastern Michigan to close out the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic. The Bears played their most complete game on Friday, when they defeated UTSA 73-66, extending its win streak to four.

Game Links: Gameday Central | Northern Colorado Notes | Eastern Michigan Notes

The Matchup
Northern Colorado picked up its first road win in its first road game of the year on Friday, defeating UTSA 73-66. In the win the team had its most complete game, shooting 49.2 percent. Savannah Scott paced the team with 26 points.

Eastern Michigan fell in its first game of the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic to Tulane 62-50, moving its record to 2-3. In the loss to Tulane, leading scorer Sasha Dailey was held to 11 points, when she is averaging over 20 a game this season.

Scouting The Eagles
Eastern Michigan is led by first year head coach Fred Castro, who came to EMU from Washington as an assistant on last season's Final Four team.

In their first five games, the Eagles are 2-3, including dropping its past two games.

EMU relies heavily on the inside play of Sasha Dailey, who leads the team with 20.2 points and 7.6 rebounds. She accounts for almost a third of the team's points, as they score 64.2 points per game.

After Dailey, Phillis Webb and Micah Robinson are also scoring in double figures, with 12.2 and 10.4 ppg, respectively.

While the Eagles have been a low scoring team, they have been able to keep their opponents off the board as well, holding them to 67.6 points a game.

EMU was picked to finish last in the MAC West this year.

Last Time Out
• Northern Colorado put forth its best offensive outing of the year, as they defeated UTSA 73-66. UNC shot 49.3 percent in the game. Savannah Scott led all scorers in the game with a career-high 26 points.

Against the MAC
• UNC has played against teams from the MAC twice before, in Akron and Central Michigan. Coincidentally, both of those games took place at neutral sites as well. The Bears defeated Akron, and fell to CMU.

On This Date
• The Bears are 5-3 when playing on November 27, including a win last season over Akron 78-65 in San Diego as a part of a post Thanksgiving Tournament.

Hot Scotty
• Savannah Scott was en fuego during the first quarter of the Bears game against UTSA, scoring 12 points in it. She would go on to score a career-high 26 points on 69.2 percent shooting.

Complete Game
• Head coach Kamie Ethridge called Friday's game against UTSA the team's most complete of the season. While the Roadrunners did end up scoring 66 points, it was more important to see UNC's offense to get going. Four Bears finished the game in double digit points, while the team shot 49.2 percent overall.

Dishing It Out
• Since Kamie Ethridge took over the program in 2014, ball movement and assists have been a big part of the Bears identity. UNC stayed true to its form on Friday, when they had 18 assists. Krystal Leger-Walker led the way for the the Bears with a career-high eight assists. She also added in 11 points in the win.

Oh So Savvy
• Savannah Smith has started off the season with a bang. Her stat line reads, 18.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg and 1.6 spg. She leads the team in points. In the team's first five games of the year she has a pair of 20 point games and has been in double figures in all of them. Against UTSA she set a career-high with nine rebounds in the win.

• Smith earned a trio of honors for her performance last week. College Sports Madness named her both the Mid-Major and Big Sky Player of the Week, while the Big Sky Conference also gave her that honor.

Double Upset
• UNC took down a pair of Mid-Major Top 25 teams in Florida Gulf Coast and San Diego last week. FGCU was ranked No. 11 coming into the game while USD was No. 20.

Texas Two Step
• Kamie Ethridge likes returning to her home state for games. In her three seasons with the Bears, she is currently 3-0 in those games. She earned her first two career wins in Texas, against SMU and North Texas, and then returned to Texas this year defeating UTSA.

Getting Respect
• After defeating both Florida Gulf Coast and San Diego last week, who were ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25, the Bears gained some votes this week. UNC earned 25 points in the poll putting them six spots away from being in the Top 25. This is the first time since the December 16, 2014 poll that UNC has received in the Mid-Major Top 25.

Paint Presence
• Courtney Smith has become quit the presence in the paint for Northern Colorado. She is averaging 28.6 minutes of play and third on the team in scoring with 9.2 ppg and first in rebounding grabbing 6.4 rpg.

Record Watch
• Savannah Smith and Kianna Williams enjoyed career-highs against the FGCU. Smith scored a career best 25 points on 7-of-16 shooting, while Williams pulled down 12 rebounds, solidifying her first career double-double.

Clocking in Overtime
• The Bears' victory over Florida Gulf Coast marked only the third time UNC had played in a game with more than a single overtime period. Northern Colorado was previously 0-2 in those games before beating FGCU, 77-74.

Playing Time Conundrum
• All 11 players on the active roster for UNC saw at least seven minutes of playing time in their win against Denver. A deep bench is a problem, but a good problem to have.

Opening Month
• Northern Colorado has been able to get out to a good start in the opening month of the season historically, going 87-72 in the month of November. Since becoming the head coach of the Bears in 2014, Kamie Ethridge has compiled an 12-4 record in the month.

Youth is Served
• Youth will be a theme for the 2016-17 UNC women's basketball team as the roster features just three upperclassmen compared to eight underclassmen. In the first five games, underclassmen accounted for 62.5 percent of the playing time.

UNC's Swiss Army Knife
• Savannah Scott could be better known as Northern Colorado's Swiss army knife for the way she plays. Last season she led the team in scoring (9.5 ppg), rebounding (4.9 rpg) and steals (1.83 spg), and ranked second is assists (2.7 apg).
• Her do it all ability has once again been on display this season. She is tied for second in scoring (8.5 ppg), third in rebounds (6.0 rpg) and second in assists (3.0 apg).

Charity Stripe
• Once again this year, UNC is proving you want to avoid fouling them. The team is leading the Big Sky with an 76.5 percent free throw percentage and also puts them 11th in the nation. Savannah Scott made her first 17 free throws this seaosn, and overall has just missed one.

Kiwi's Complete Game
• Junior Kianna Williams can be a match up nightmare for opposing coaches to plan for. Her versatility allows her to guard multiple positions and play both inside and outside. Last year she had one of the most statistically complete games for the Bears, averaging 6.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals.

• That nightmare for opponents has already started this year. She is averaging 5.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, along with 2.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.6 blocks. She recorded her first career double-double against Florida Gulf Coast with a 12 point, 12 rebound game.

Class of Kath
• Katie Longwell is the team's lone senior this season. Last year she led the team in assists and finished third in the Big Sky with 2.16 assists per game. She also posted one of the top assist to turnover ratios in the country with a 2.16 mark.

• So far in her senior campaign, she has been a valuable sixth man for UNC. She averages a team most 18.8 minutes off the bench and is shooting an outstanding 50.0 percent from the field. She averages 4.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists.

Swat Team
• Opponents have had trouble scoring against Courtney Smith and Kianna Williams this season as they have combined for 14 blocks. Williams has eight while Smith has put up six.

The Other Kiwi
• While Kianna Williams nickname is Kiwi, Northern Colorado has a true Kiwi on the team this year in Krystal Leger-Walker. The freshman guard comes to Greeley from Waikato, New Zealand. Leger-Walker brings plenty of international competition experience with her as she was on the New Zealand National Team this past summer, and competed for their 3 on 3 FIBA Championship team.

Freshman Four
• Northern Colorado welcomes a fearsome foursome for its freshman class this year. The group features two guards, a forward and a center in Krystal Leger-Walker, Mandy Karako, Abby Kain, and Bridget Hintz.

Proving Them Wrong
• UNC will be out to prove the Big Sky Preseason poll wrong this season. Both the media and coaches poll picked the Bears to finish ninth this year. Idaho was the favorite in the coaches' poll and Montana State in the media.

Succeeding off the Court
• UNC women's basketball team has not only been succeeding on the court, but also in the classroom. Last year seven players earned a spot on the Big Sky All-Academic team for having a cumulative GPA of over 3.2 and played in at least half of the team's games.

What's on Deck?
•The Bears return to the Centennial State, but stay on the road when they head north to take on Colorado State on December 4th.

Social Bears
• Wanting to stay up to date on all things UNC women's basketball? Make sure to follow the team on social media. We are on Facebook: /UNCBearsWBB, Twitter: @UNCBearsWBB and Instagram: UNCBearsWBB. Make sure to use the #Bearsketball as well, the official hashtag for the team.

UNC Bears Focus
• Back again this year is the UNC Focus presented by Advantage Bank. The UNC Focus is a weekly radio show. The Voice of the Bears Troy Coverdale will host it each Wednesday night on 1310 KFKA from 5pm-6pm.