@UNCBearsWBB Come Up On Wrong Side of Triple-Overtime Thriller

Thursday, February 4

Ogden, Utah

7:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

9-11,BSC 4-6

Weber State

15-5,BSC 7-2

Team	1	2	3	4	OT 1	OT 2	OT 3	F
Northern Colorado	10	13	22	11	6	9	8	79
Weber State	3	11	20	22	6	9	11	82

Photo by: Justin Johnson

2/4/2016 10:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Northern Colorado falls in a triple overtime thriller at Weber Stae 82-79

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

OGDEN, Utah – It was a night of firsts for the Northern Colorado women's basketball on Thursday. The program's first triple overtime game, Savannah Scott's first career double-double, but not the first the team was looking for as they fell, 82-79 to Weber State.

The Bears (9-11, 4-6 Big Sky) and Wildcats (15-5, 7-2) took three overtimes to determine a winner, and left UNC still looking for its first conference road win of the season.

Northern Colorado took the lead at the 4:47 mark of the first quarter, and held it for the next 33 minutes, building the lead to as many as 13 early in the fourth.

"It was an unbelievably hard fought game and just a disappointing outcome again. It is hard to lose something you fought so hard for and to let it get away in the end," head coach Kamie Ethridge said. "We had a lead and just made some young, untimely mistakes that gave Weber State momentum to catch up in the fourth quarter. I did think this team responded well after the effort last weekend. We are still young and learning how to play together at key times."

Weber State regained the lead with just 1:47 left, and held for 1:46 seconds until Savannah Scott hit a jumper with a second left to send the game to its first overtime period knotted at 56-56.

Scott was once again her do it all self for the Bears in the game. She recorded her first career double-double, ending the night with 16 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and two assists in a career-high 52 minutes of play.

"Savannah Scott does everything you want her to do on the court and plays her heart out. She rebounds, handles the ball and guards," Ethridge said. "We ask her to do so much for us and puts so much effort which we love to see as a coaching staff."

Scott wasn't the only Bear to record career-highs in the game, Savannah Smith tied her career-high points total with 20 on 8-of-16 shooting, and Rebecca Howell set a new high with 18 points. Kianna Williams joined in with a team-high tying 10 rebounds to set a new career-best of her own.

"Both Savannahs played very hard and gave us great efforts tonight. Savannah Smith is turning into a great scoring guard for us and taking the challenges we put on her," stated Ethridge. "We continue to lean more on her to lead and she is really taking on that challenge. It is exciting to see how high of a ceiling she still has to grow as she learns to take on more responsibility on the court."

In the first overtime period, neither team led by more than two points. Weber State's Brittany Dunbar sank two free throws with five seconds left to send the game to the second overtime with the score at 62 apiece.

During the second overtime Northern Colorado built a four point advantage, but untimely fouls and turnovers dwindled the lead down to two with 17 seconds left and after a Weber State lay-up was all square with less than ten seconds remaining.

Another UNC turnover gave WSU a shot to end the overtime period, but the Bears defense held strong and pushed the game to a third overtime. For the game, Northern Colorado turned the ball over 30 times, leading to 18 Wildcats points off turnovers.

"Our team right now is a bit fragile after losing a few close games and ends up playing tight, worrying about letting someone down," Ethridge said of her young team. "We played too mistake prone and not to lose the game. We ended up turning the ball over too much and not defending enough on their end."

Weber State got out to a five point lead by the midway point of the third OT and staved off a UNC late run. The Bears pulled within one with just 27 seconds left, but could not get the game tying or leading basket to fall before time ran out as Weber State wound up winning, 82-79.

The triple-overtime game was the most overtimes in UNC history, overtaking the previous high of two against North Dakota State on January 3, 2000.

Northern Colorado will look to pick up that first conference road win on Saturday when they head to Idaho State. The Bengals (10-10, 3-6) and Bears will tip-off at 2:00 p.m. ISU is coming off a three point loss of its own on Thursday night to North Dakota 60-57.