Second Half Struggles Hurt @UNCBearsWBB Against EWU

Saturday, February 13

Greeley, Colo.

2:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

11-12 (6-7BSC)

Eastern Washington

17-8 (11-2BSC)

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Eastern Washington	24	15	12	15	66
Northern Colorado	19	21	5	12	57

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

2/13/2016 5:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Northern Colorado struggle hurt them in lose to Eastern Washington

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – After a very good first half of play for the UNC women's basketball team, a poor second half hurt the team in a 66-57 loss to Eastern Washington Saturday afternoon. The loss snapped the Bears five-game home win streak.

"It was a disappointing second half after a well-played first half for us," said head coach Kamie Ethridge. "Eastern Washington is a smart, gritty team that made the adjustment in the second half on defense that really took us out of offense."

The first half was all about offense for both the UNC and EWU. Despite being out-shot, 60.9 percent to 51.6 percent in the half, Northern Colorado held a slim 40-39 advantage.

In the half, UNC was led by Kyleigh Hiser's 12 points off the bench including hitting of 2-of-3 treys. She ended the game as the Bears' leading scorer with 17 points in 26 minutes.

In the second half, UNC struggled to score. After the intermission neither team was able to find the bottom of the basket, combining to go one-for-nine on the first 10 shots of the third quarter. Northern Colorado didn't score its first points of the half until the 3:28 mark on a Hiser three.

By the time the horn sounded to end the quarter, UNC trailed 51-45, with a season low five points in the quarter.

Eastern Washington grew its lead to 10 early in the fourth quarter before UNC made one last run. UNC's rally was sparked by barrage of 3-pointers, four to be exact.

Kourteney Zadina hit two of those four threes, while Kianna Williams and Savannah Smith connected on the other two.

Both Zadina and Smith finished in double figures for UNC with 12 and 13 points, respectively. They also combined to grab seven rebounds, dished out two assists and got three steals.

The barrage wasn't enough in the end as the Eagles held the Bears scoreless over the final 4:43 of play.

"We were unable to get into a rhythm during that second half and we were never able to take control of the second half," said Ethridge.

The 17 points by UNC in the second half was the lowest total this season.

"We do not see this type of defense usually and is tough to go against," Ethridge said. "As coaches we are really wanting to see the film and see where we can improve. It felt like we were getting open shots, but they did not go down."

Northern Colorado will close out its three-game home stand next Saturday when they host North Dakota at 2:00 p.m.