@UNCBearsWBB Takes Five-Game Win Streak to Colorado State Sunday

Sunday, December 4

Fort Collins, Colo.

2 pm

University of Northern Colorado

Colorado State

12/1/2016 11:21:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Northern Colorado women's basketball heads to Fort Collins Sunday when they take on CSU, bringing a five game win streak with them.

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. - It will have been a week since the Northern Colorado women's basketball team last played when they tip-off on Sunday at 2 pm against Colorado State, having time to rest and improve for the in-state battle. The Bears will bring with them a five-game win streak when they head to Fort Collins.

Game Links: Gameday Central | Northern Colorado Notes | Colorado State Notes | Big Sky Notes

The Matchup
Northern Colorado continued its win streak in Texas last week, expanding it to five. The Bears defeated UTSA 73-66 and used a last second four-point play to get past Eastern Michigan 58-57. UNC is currently on a four-game road trip.

While the Bears are on a road trip, Colorado State will be closing out a three-game homestand when they host UNC on Sunday. CSU started its homestand with a 76-49 win over Denver Wednesday, and faces Southeastern Louisiana on Friday night.

Scouting the Rams
Once again this year, Colorado State is a stout defensive team holding its opponents to 58.8 points per game so far, while scoring 67.2 points themselves.

The Rams use the duo of Ellen Nystrom and Elin Gustavsson to run the offense with Nystrom averaging 12.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists a game, whild Gustavsson is putting up 11.8 points and 5.8 rebounds.

As a team CSU does a good job of getting to the foul line and converting, ranking in the Top 15 in the NCAA with a 74.3 percent free throw percentage.

Another key for the Rams is the ability to not turn the ball over. They are turning it over just 11.8 times a game compared to forcing their opponents to 17.2 a game.

Colorado State has won the past three Mountain West regular season championships and made it to the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year. They are once again picked to finish first in the Mountain West this season.

Last Time Against CSU
Colorado State's defense slowed down UNC, as the Rams defeated the Bears 62-46.

Northern Colorado was held to 34.9 percent shooting, including 20.0 percent from beyond the arc as the offense struggled throughout the game with 16 turnovers.

CSU was led by the trio of Jamie Patrick (17), Elin Gustavsson (12) and Ellen Nystrom (10) who all scored in double figures for the team.

Kourteney Zadina led UNC with 17 points.

Last Time Out
• Savannah Smith came through in the clutch for UNC hitting a game-tying three with 7.3 seconds left and getting fouled on the play. She would sink the free throw and move the Bears win streak to five in a 58-57 game over Eastern Michigan. Sophomore Courtney Smith scored a team-high and career best 17 points in the win.

Against the MWC
• Northern Colorado is very familiar with teams from the Mountain West Conference having faced 10 of the 11 teams for a total of 126 games. In those games UNC is 51-75 overall.

On This Date
• The Bears are an impressive 10-2 when playing on December 4th. UNC is a perfect 6-0 on the date, while going 3-2 when away from home, picking up the final win on the date in a neutral site game. Coming into this year, the Bears have a four-game win streak on the date.

Strong Opening Month
• Northern Colorado went 5-1 in the opening month of play this year, matching a program best for wins in November. UNC has won five games in November two other times, 1996 and 1998. Since head coach Kamie Ethridge took over in 2014, the Bears are 13-4 in November.

Month of December
• Northern Colorado is slightly above .500 in the month of December at 120-117. Under Ethridge UNC is 3-8.

Clutch City
• UNC has come up clutch when needed so far this year. In games decided by five points or less, the Bears are 3-0. All three of those games were decided by clutch baskets late in the game by Northern Colorado. Savannah Smith has two of those big shots for the team, hitting the go-ahead shot against San Diego with 17 second left on November 20, and then having a 4-point play with 7.3 seconds left to tie and take the lead on Eastern Michigan on November 27.

Hot Scotty
• Savannah Scott had a big weekend in Texas, averaging a team best 18.0 ppg along with grabbing 4.5 rebounds and adding in 1.0 assists and steals. In the game against UTSA she had 12 points in the first quarter and finished the game with a career-high 26 points.

Centennial State Challenge
• The Bears next three games will be against fellow colleges from the state of Colorado, and take place in three different cities. UNC will play in Fort Collins (at CSU), Colorado Springs (at Air Force) and Greeley (vs Colorado Christian). For the year, UNC will take on five teams from the Centennial State. So far the team is 1-1, defeating Denver and falling to Colorado.

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 has once again started to move its way to the top of the NCAA rankings in assists and assist to turnover ratio. Northern Colorado is averaging 16.0 assists a game and has an assist to turnover ratio of 1.04, ranking 80th and 69th in the NCAA, respectively.

Oh So Savvy
• Savannah Smith has started off the season with a bang. Her stat line reads, 17.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.8 apg and 1.5 spg. She leads the team in points. In the team's first six games of the year she has a pair of 20 point games and has been in double figures in all of them. She has also hit a pair of game-winning shots for the team inside the final 20 seconds of the game against San Diego and Eastern Michigan.

• Smith earned a trio of honors for her performance over the week of November 14-20. 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.

For the Very First Time
• Northern Colorado is ranked for the very first time in program history in the Mid-Major Top 25, ranked No. 15 in this week's poll. The Bears received 26 points last week, just missing out on being ranked, before jumping up to No. 15 this week. UNC has defeated a pair of Mid-Major Top 25 teams in San Diego and Florida Gulf Coast.

Paint Presence
• Courtney Smith has become quit the presence in the paint for Northern Colorado. She is averaging 29.0 minutes of play and third on the team in scoring with 10.5 ppg and first in rebounding, grabbing 6.3 rpg.

• She was key for the Bears win over Eastern Michigan last Sunday, when she scored a career-high 17 points, and had a career high five assists. In the game Smith also had six rebounds.

Charity Stripe
• Once again this year, UNC is proving you want to avoid fouling them. The team is leading the Big Sky with an 77.3 percent free throw percentage putting them 27th in the nation. Savannah Scott made her first 17 free throws this season, and overall has just missed one. She ranks 7th in the nation with a 95.7 free throw percentage.

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 6.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, along with 2.7 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 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. So far in her senior campaign, she has been a valuable sixth man for UNC. She averages a team most 19.0 minutes off the bench and is shooting an outstanding 50.0 percent from the field. She averages 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.5 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.

• She has started at guard for the team in all six of their games, averaging 7.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.7 steals. Against UTSA she had a career high eight assists.

Riddle Me This
• Northern Colorado's usual starting lineup makes quite the riddle: We start two Savannah's, two Smith's, and two Kiwis. Can you name them?

• Answer: Savannah Smith, Savannah Scott, Courtney Smith, Kianna Williams and Krystal Leger-Walker.

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 62.0 percent of the playing time.

Deep on the Bench
• Northern Colorado has a deep bench it can tap into if needed this season. Through the team's first six games, the Bears have used all 11 active players for this season in the game.

U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!
• Head coach Kamie Ethridge has plenty of international experience having been on the seven different USA national teams as a player, including the 1988 Olympic Gold winning team. That's not the only international experience she has though, over the past two summers Ethridge has helped coach some of the USA's national teams. She is just one of 48 current NCAA coaches to also coach for the United States.

• This past summer, Ethridge was an assistant coach on the U18 team that went on to win gold at the FIBA Americas in Valdivia, Chile.

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.

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).

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.

New Bear
• UNC inked a new Bear during the early signing period in November, bringing in Tiarna Clarke. Clarke will bring the team's number of international players on the team to two as she comes to UNC from Albany, New Zealand. She is a 5' 7" combo guard who like, Leger-Walker will bring plenty of international experience to the team.

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 will close out the four-game road trip on December 10 when they head down to Air Force. UNC will be off for almost a week as the team hits the books for finals week.

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.