Recap: Offensive Woes Hurt @UNCBearsWBB Against Quinnipiac

Wednesday, November 22

Hamden, Conn.

11:00 am

University of Northern Colorado

4-1

Quinnipiac

1-3

Northern Colorado

Quinnipiac

11/22/2017 4:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Scoring droughts hurt UNC women's basketball in its first loss of the season.

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

Hamden, Conn. – A quick start was not enough for the Northern Colorado women's basketball team, as offensive slumps throughout the game were too much to overcome in the team's first setback of the season to Quinnipiac 60-49 Wednesday afternoon.

The loss is the first of the year for UNC to move them to 4-1, while the Bobcats picked up their first win of the year to go to 1-3. Despite being winless coming into the game, QU had played three Power 5 teams in Iowa, Missouri and Ohio State. The latter two are ranked in the Top 25.

Northern Colorado got out to a quick start going up 10-0 on Quinnipiac by the halfway point of the first quarter. The team's first three points of the game came from the free throw line until Krystal Leger-Walker hit on a 3-pointer to make it a 6-0 game. QU went scoreless in the game until the 4:36 mark of the first quarter.

The strong start continued for UNC, as Courtney Smith scored seven of the Bears' first 14 points. Savannah Smith matched her with seven points of her own in the
first quarter including a three from the timeline just before the end of the quarter that banked in to give UNC a 19-5 lead at the end of it.

The Bobcats struggled to make a basket going 2-of-17 (11.7%) from the field, including 0-for-8 from beyond the arc in the first. Meanwhile, UNC shot 50.0 percent from the field including connecting on 2-of-5 3-pointers.

Northern Colorado extended its lead to 16 early on in the second quarter, before Quinnipiac started to work its way back into the game. The teams exchanged baskets until UNC went cold themselves offensively after Tiarna Clarke made a strong drive to the rim and lying in an easy 2-points to put the bears up 25-11 the 6:27 mark.

The Bobcats started to work the ball inside offensively and took advantage of four UNC turnovers during an almost six-minute-long scoring drought for the Bears. Courtney Smith ended the 11-0 run for Quinnipiac with a layup inside the final minute of the first half to put UNC up 28-22 at the break.

The offensive woes for Northern Colorado continued in the third quarter as they shot just 3-for-14 from the field. Quinnipiac opened the third with a quick 6-0 run to cut the Bears lead to two, but UNC responded back with a 5-0 run of its own to go back up seven by the mid-way point.

Savannah Smith hit a jumper from the top of the key to cap off the mini-run, but the Bears went ice cold after that basket as 5:18 showed on the clock in the third quarter. Quinnipiac took advantage of the Northern Colorado struggles by closing the quarter out on a 12-0 run to lead 42-35 going into the fourth quarter. The Bobcats gained its first lead of the game on a Vanessa Udoji layup with 2:02 left in the third.

Quinnipiac's run didn't end when the quarter ended though, they scored the first nine points of the final 10 minute period taking control of the game and capping off a 21-0 run.

The Bears finally ended the drought with a Courtney Smith layup at the 6:34 mark of the fourth. That layup sparked a 9-0 Northern Colorado run to pull them back within five of QU, but never any closer than that.

The Bobcats salted away the game at the free throw line hitting nine shots from the charity stripe to hand UNC its first loss of the season.

Game Changer
The stat line doesn't show the whole picture for the impact that Vanessa Udoji had on the game for Quinnipiac, she finished the contest with a team-leading 14 points, three rebounds and two steals. Her length and defense were big in helping QU get back into the game and ultimately defeat Northern Colorado.

Stat to Know
Basketball is a game of runs, and for Quinnipiac, all it took was a 21-0 run to go from trailing for the majority of the game to taking a commanding lead over UNC. The key stretch over the third and fourth quarter decided Wednesday afternoon's contest.

Game Notes
- Courtney Smith led all players with 17 points in the game. She added in six rebounds, two assists and a steal to her stat line.
- Krystal Leger-Walker tied her career-high for scoring with 11 points in the game. The sophomore from New Zealand hit on a trio of 3-pointers along with grabbing three rebounds and dishing out a pair of assists.
- Over the final three quarters of play, UNC shot 28.9 percent for just 30 points after shooting 50.0 percent leading to 19 points in the first quarter.
- Turnovers really hurt Northern Colorado as they committed 18 leading to 16 points for the Bobcats.
- Quinnipiac started to find success in the paint during the second quarter and used that formula the rest of the way, out-scoring UNC 32-20 in it.
- The Bobcat's Jen Fay ended the game with a double-double scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

What's Ahead?
Northern Colorado returns home to start a three-game homestand on Thursday, November 30 at 7 pm when they host BYU. The Bears will also host Pacific (Dec. 3) and Colorado State (Dec. 10) during the homestand.

Tickets are on sale now, starting as low as $5, some fees may apply.

To stay up to date on all things UNC women's basketball visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @UNCBearsWBB.