#RoadToReno Begins Thursday for @UNCBearsWBB

Thursday, December 29

Greeley, Colo.

7:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

Sacramento State

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12/27/2016 5:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

UNC women's basketball opens up Big Sky play on Thursday hosting Sacramento State

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – As the new year approaches, the Road To Reno begins. Big Sky Conference play begins on Thursday across the conference, including for Northern Colorado's women's basketball team when they host Sacramento State. The Bears and Hornets tip-off the Big Sky season at 7 pm inside Bank of Colorado Arena.

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

Gameday Happenings
Throughout the season UNC will be hosting five Road to Reno nights. The first four will consist of a free-throw competition between two fans selected in game. One winner from the first four nights will receive two all-session tickets for the Big Sky Basketball Tournament. The final night, night five will feature a free throw contest between our four finalists. One winner will be awarded a Big Sky Tournament package courtesy of the conference. The package will include:
- 2 night stay at either Circus-Circus, Eldorado or Silver Legacy Resort (valid Sunday-Friday nights)
- $50 dining credit
- 2 tickets to a show at the tri-properties

The Matchup
The #RoadToReno once again begins on Thursday and ends in Reno for the Big Sky Tournament March 6-11.

Northern Colorado will host Sacramento State on the opening night of conference play, having finished non-conference play at 8-3 and 4-7, respectively.

The game will pit the top scoring team in the Big Sky, Sacramento State (87.5 ppg), and the second best team keeping its opponents off the scoreboard in UNC (59.9 ppg).

Scouting Sacramento State
Sacramento State once again runs its high tempo, up and down style of basketball under fourth year coach Buncky Harkleroad. With the style of basketball the Hornets play, they rank sixth in the nation averaging 87.5 points a game. While they score in bunches they also give up a lot of point, coming into conference play allowing 93.8 points per game.

A key to Sac State's offense is the ability to shoot the three. They average an NCAA best 12.0 made 3-pointers a game, shooting 30.2 percent on them. The trio of Maranne Johnson (17.0), Emily Easom (15.3) and Ashlyn Crenshaw (10.8) are all in doubles figures scoring for the team.

Another key to the Hornets system is their full court pressure forcing lots of opponent's turnovers. They force 22.45 turnovers a game.

They finished their non-conference season with a 4-7 record. Sac State was picked to finish seventh in the Big Sky by both the media and coaches in the preseason.

Last Time Against the Hornets
Northern Colorado started the game strong against Sacramento State with a 10-2 run in the first 3:12 of the game, but Sacramento State would battle back to earn the win.

Four Sac State players finished the game with double digit points, led by maranne Johnson's 20.

Known as a 3-point shooting team, the Hornets were held to just six made threes, but did get to the free throw line 30 times, hitting 23 of them.

Northern Colorado was led by Kyleigh Hiser's 19 points.

Last Time Out
• A Savannah Smith layup with 21.1 seconds left put UNC up for good against Pacific and secured the Bears 60-56 victory. UNC used an 11-0 run to start the second quarter to gain control of the game and then road the strong play of Smith and Savannah Scott who scored 40 points for the Bears in the win.

Against the Big Sky
• UNC joined the Big Sky in the 2006-07 season and have gone 92-91 since then. All-time against Big Sky schools, the Bears are 104-129.

On This Date
• It has been five years since the Bears have played on December 29, last coming in 2011 when they won over Black Hills State 72-35. Overall on the date, UNC is 6-5, including a 3-2 record when playing at home.

Month of December
• Northern Colorado is slightly above .500 in the month of December at 123-118. Under Ethridge UNC is 6-9.

Homecoming
• Savannah Scott enjoyed her trip back to Northern California scoring a career-high 27 points at Saint Mary's and another 22 points against Pacific. In those games, she also averaged 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists a game to lead the team.

• She also added a 12 point, four assist and four rebound game against Colorado Christian to help her earn Big Sky Player of the Week Honors. It was the first time in Scott's career that she earned the award.

Strong Non-Conference Play
•Northern Colorado got out to its best start in non-conference play since the 2011-12 season. That year the team also won eight games during the non-conference season. Going into Big Sky Play, UNC has the most wins of any other team in the conference.

Resilient Group
This year's team has been a resilient group. Each time after losing this year they come back and won their next game. In those games following a loss, the Bears have won by an average margin of 17 points.

#RoadToReno
• The #RoadToReno begins on Thursday, December 29th in the Big Sky. Once again this year all 12 teams will compete in the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Reno, Nevada. This year's tournament will take place from March 6-11, and be in conjunction with the men's tournament during March 7-11. All of the men's and women's games will be played inside the Reno Event Center. Tickets are available now at UNCBears.com.

Paint Presence
• Courtney Smith has become quite the presence in the paint for Northern Colorado. She is averaging 27.1 minutes of play, ranks second on the team in scoring with 11.9 ppg and first in rebounding, grabbing 6.7 rpg.

• She had a career game against Colorado Christian, scoring 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting along with a career-high four blocks. She also grabbed eight rebounds and had a steal in the game. That performance helped her be named the College Sports Madness Big Sky Player of the Week.

• Smith has been an efficient scorer, shooting 58.0 percent for the year, ranking her first in the Big Sky and 26th in the NCAA.

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 16.5 assists a game and has an assist to turnover ratio of 1.11, ranking 46th and 49th in the NCAA, respectively.

• Against Colorado Christian on December 13, UNC had a season-high 25 assists. Eight of the 11 players that played in the game recorded at least one assist and four players had four or more. The Bears also helped its assist-to-turnover ratio with just six turnovers in the game.

Charity Stripe
• Once again this year, UNC is proving you want to avoid fouling them. The team is leading the Big Sky with a 78.2 percent free throw percentage putting them 12th in the nation. Savannah Scott made her first 17 free throws this season, and ranks 56th in the nation with an 85.7 free throw percentage.

Getting Defensive
• The Bears have turned into a tough defensive team, ranking near the top of the conference in scoring defense, defensive field goal percentage and blocks per game. The team ranks second in the Big Sky allowing just 59.9 points a game and second in field goal defense holding opponents to 37.8 percent.

• In the past three games against Colorado Christian, Saint Mary's, and Pacific, UNC has forced a combine 68 turnovers. Twenty three of those game against CCU, 22 against SMC, and 23 more at Pacific. Of those 68, 36 of them have come via steals.

• In five of Northern Colorado's last six games, they have not allowed their opponent score over 60 points. For the year, UNC has held its opponent below 60 points seven times, and under 50 points three times.

• Against Colorado Christian the team put on a clinic at times, forcing 23 CCU turnovers, making 16 steals and holding the Cougars to 25.5 percent shooting. In the third quarter UNC kept them without a made field goal, and for the second half CCU shot just 9.1 percent.

Bracketology
•The strong start during the non-conference season has earned UNC some national respect, including by ESPNW's Bracketology. They currently have the Bears as a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament, heading to Palo Alto, California to take on Stanford in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.

Mid-Major Recognition
• Northern Colorado continues to be ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25, coming in at No. 18 this week. The November 29th poll marked the first time in program history that they had been ranked in the poll. The poll is released every Tuesday afternoon by College Insider.

Gaining Confidence
• Northern Colorado's freshmen have been gaining a lot of confidence recently as they have seen extended playing time. The duo of Mandy Karako and Bridget Hintz have played well over the past two games. Karako has scored 11 and 10 points in those two games. Hintz had a career-high 10 points at Air Force, and didn't fill up the stat sheet as much against CCU, but showed the size depth the team has moving forward.

• Kain earned her first career start against Saint Mary's as Courtney Smith was out due to an illness.

Career-High Game
• While Courtney Smith had a career game, other Bears set career-highs as well against Colorado Christian.

• Savannah Smith dished out some dimes on the night as she had eight assists.

• Abby Kain had her most complete game in a UNC uniform scoring 11 points and grabbing seven rebounds. She went 3-for-3 from the free throw line.

Double the Double-Doubles
• In the past two games, a UNC player has recorded a double-double. Courtney Smith had her first career double-double with a 14 points, 10 rebounds effort against CSU. Savannah Scott scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Air Force for her second career double-double.

Oh So Savvy
• Savannah Smith had a strong non-conference season for the team. Her stat line reads, 14.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.2 apg and 1.9 spg. She leads the team in points.

• In the team's first four games of the year she had a pair of 20 point games and has been in double figures in nine of the team's 11 games. 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.

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 5.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, along with 2.3 assists, 2.4 steals and 0.9 blocks.

•She recorded her first career double-double against Florida Gulf Coast with a 12 point, 12 rebound game. Williams also had a career-high six steals against Saint Mary's.

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 20.1 minutes off the bench. She averages 4.5 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 21 blocks. Smith has put up 11, while Williams has 10.

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 of their games, averaging 6.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.3 steals. Against UTSA she had a career-high eight assists.

Centennial State Challenge
• The Bears finished its five-game Centennial State Challenge on Tuesday when they took on Colorado Christian. UNC finished those five games against other Colorado schools with a 3-2 record. They defeated CCU, Air Force and Denver, while falling to Colorado and Colorado State.

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.

Clutch City
• UNC has come up clutch when needed so far this year. In games decided by five points or less, the Bears are 4-0. 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.

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 62.7 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 eight games, the Bears 11 active players have seen action in at least five games this year. The team has been able to play all 11 of its players in three games this year.

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 now take a break for the holidays and prepare for Big Sky play. They will open conference season at home against Sacramento State on December 29 at 7 pm.

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.