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@UNCBearsWBB Matches Program Record 11-Game Win Streak
1/28/2017 6:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Northern Colorado women's basketball won its 11th straight game Saturday over Southern Utah 74-55
GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado women's basketball extended its win streak to 11 games Saturday after a 74-55 win over Southern Utah. The win streak now equals the longest in program history tying the 1997-98 team.
How it Happened
UNC's offense struggled in the first quarter coming out sluggish. The team went four minutes without a point as Southern Utah went on a 7-0 run to gain a 15-10 lead.
SUU had good looks in the first, shooting 53.3 percent. They were led by Darri Frandsen's nine points.
Northern Colorado responded in the second quarter though, going on a 17-0 run sparked by Katie Longwell's trio of threes. The Bears made five shots from downtown during the run that would end up giving them the lead for good.
Overall in the quarter, UNC hit seven threes and took a 40-28 lead into the half.
The Bears continued to hit from long range, opening the second half with a three from Savannah Smith. It started a 9-0 UNC run to begin the half, and built the lead to 21.
Northern Colorado proceeded to use the clock to its advantage as they stayed ahead of the T-Birds by no less than 16 throughout the remainder of the quarter. As the horn sounded to end the third, UNC led 60-48.
In the final quarter of play, the team built its lead to as much as 26, before SUU closed the game on a 7-0 run to end the game.
Game Changer
Katie Longwell was just what the Bears needed at the right time to start the second quarter. UNC trailed after a sluggish first, but the lone senior provided the spark to jump start the team's offense. She hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Northern Colorado up 23-19 and began a 17-0 run. She proceeded to hit another three during it as UNC pulled away from SUU.
Notable
- Savannah Smith scored 22 points to lead all Northern Colorado players. She shot 8-for-13 from the field including hitting six treys. It is the fourth straight game that S. Smith has scored at least 20 points.
- Northern Colorado's offense showed no end in sight to its strong shooting efforts. They went 30-of-56 (53.6%) from the field and 14-for-23 (60.9%) from behind the arc.
- Danielle Noble earned the start for UNC today and played well in the role, grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
Quotable
Head Coach Kamie Ethridge
Overall statement on the game
"Winning is hard and being unbelievably sharp is really hard. I think young players think sometimes they have themselves ready, but it may only be 95 percent that they are giving or end up a little bit casual on something. When you get kids that have a motor that is going all the time, then you are in great shape. All we did is challenge the team in between the first and second quarter. You saw what happened after that, our ball movement improved and offense opened up and our defensive intensity picked up as well and we were rolling after that."
About facing North Dakota
"North Dakota plays different than most teams in the Big Sky I feel like. They are a bigger team and will present some new challenges for us."
Senior Guard Katie Longwell
Mindset of coming off the bench
"Every time I come off the bench I think I am coming in to be a spark for the team. Today we were down when I came in and thankfully my shot went down to get the team going."
About first quarter struggles
"Our offense and defense was just sloppy in the first. Once we got it together and got it rolling we were fine."
Junior Guard Savannah Scott
On team's mindset after the first quarter
"It wasn't panic, but we were mad at ourselves about the way we played in the first. Then we came out and played strong to open the second quarter."
What's Next?
The showdown is set for next Saturday as the No. 1 and 2 teams in the Big Sky face each other. North Dakota visits Bank of Colorado Arena next Saturday, February 4 at noon. It will be the first of two meeting between the teams this season.
