@UNCBearsWBB Heads to Air Force Saturday

Saturday, December 10

Colorado Springs, Colo.

2:30 pm

University of Northern Colorado

Air Force

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

12/7/2016 2:27:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Northern Colorado women’s basketball heads to the Air Force Academy Saturday to take on the Falcons

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – After taking on finals this week, Northern Colorado's women's basketball team with get back on the hardwood on Saturday afternoon, when they play the Air Force Falcons. Tip-off between the two teams is set for 2:30 pm inside Air Force's Clune Arena.

Game Links: Gameday Central | Northern Colorado Notes | Air Force Notes | Big Sky Notes

The Matchup
Northern Colorado comes into Saturday's game against Air Force looking to regroup after falling to Colorado State on Sunday. CSU's 2-3 zone slowed down the Bears late, to give the team its second loss of the season.

The Falcons picked up its second win of the season last Saturday when the defeated Utah Valley 64-53. The win snapped a two game losing streak for Air Force.

Against common opponents Colorado and Denver UNC is 1-1, while AF is 0-2. UNC's win came against DU.

Scouting the Falcons
Air Force has already topped its win total from last year, with two after struggling to a 1-29 record under new head coach Chris Gobrecht.

The Falcons rely on the duo of Kailin Davis and Mariah Forde on offense as they average 10.8 and 10.0 points per game. They are having to pick up for teammate Sarah Pierce, who suffered a knee ending injury after averaging 11.0 ppg through the first two game.

Overall, Air Force's offense has struggled to score, averaging just 55.4 points per game.

On the defensive end, the Falcons have struggled at times to slow down its opponents, allowing 68.9 points a game on 40.2 field goal percentage.

Protecting the inside for the combo of Dee Bennett and Kassady Huffman. Bennet leads the team with 7.0 rebounds a game, and Huffman has cumulated 20 blocks already this year.

Last Time Against Air Force
Northern Colorado played one of its best games of the year when they hosted Air Force in 2014, with a 76-35 win. UNC shot 56.4 percent from the field, and had 23 assists on 31 made baskets, while holding the Falcons to 25.0 percent shooting.

The senior duo of D'shara Strange and Stephanie Lee combined for 40 points, outscoring the Falcons who were held to 35.

The Bears defense forced 16 turnovers and blocked three shots in the win.

Last Time Out
• Northern Colorado led after the first, second and third quarters against Colorado State, but a big scoring drought to open the fourth quarter, did in the Bears. The Rams would end up taking the game 58-47. Courtney Smith had a big game for UNC recording her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

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 127 games. In those games UNC is 51-76 overall.

On This Date
• The Bears are looking to break through when on the road on December 10th. The team has dropped its past six games away from Greeley, played on the date. When at home though, UNC is 2-0, including defeating Grand Canyon in 2014.

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 120-118. Under Ethridge UNC is 3-9.

Paint Presence
• Courtney Smith has become quite the presence in the paint for Northern Colorado. She is averaging 28.9 minutes of play and second on the team in scoring with 11.0 ppg and first in rebounding, grabbing 6.9 rpg.

• She recorded her first career double-double in the Bears game against Colorado State, leading the team with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Smith has scored in double figures the past three games.

• Smith has been an efficient scorer, shooting 56.9 percent for the year, ranking her first in the Big Sky and 39th in the NCAA.

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.

Centennial State Challenge
• The Bears is in the middle of a three game stretch where they will play against fellow colleges from the state of Colorado. All three games will 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 1-2, defeating Denver and falling to Colorado and Colorado State.

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 15.1 assists a game and has an assist to turnover ratio of 1.00, ranking 94th and 77th in the NCAA, respectively.

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.

Oh So Savvy
• Savannah Smith has started off the season with a bang. Her stat line reads, 16.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.6 apg and 1.3 spg. She leads the team in points. In the team's first seven 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.

Mid-Major Recognition
• Northern Colorado continues to be ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25, dropping one sport from last week to No. 16. The November 29th poll marked the first time in program history that they had been ranked in the poll.

Charity Stripe
• Once again this year, UNC is proving you want to avoid fouling them. The team is leading the Big Sky with an 77.6 percent free throw percentage putting them 19th in the nation. Savannah Scott made her first 17 free throws this season, and overall has just missed one. She ranks 5th 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 5.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, along with 2.1 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.1 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 18.9 minutes off the bench and is shooting an outstanding 42.9 percent from the field. She averages 4.3 points, 2.3 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 15 blocks. Williams has eight while Smith has put up seven.

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 6.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.6 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 return home for its final non-conference home game of the year. UNC will play host to Division II Colorado Christian on December 13 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.