Preview: @UNCBearsWBB Returns to the Court Against UMKC

Tuesday, December 19

Kansas City, Mo.

12 pm

University of Northern Colorado

University of Missouri - Kansas City

Photo by: Rob Trubia

12/18/2017 5:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Northern Colorado Notes

Northern Colorado women's basketball returns to the court after a nine day hiatus to take on UMKC

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – It will have been nine days since the UNC women's basketball team hit the court when they face host Missouri-Kansas City in the Roos Holiday Classic on Tuesday at noon. The Bears are looking to get the bitter taste out of its mouth after dropping its last game to Colorado State on December 10 by the score of 55-44.

Tuesday's game will be streamed on WACSports.com, and live stats can be found on UNCBears.com. Fans can also follow the game on Twitter at @UNCBearsWBB

Opening Tip
• Northern Colorado has been off since December 10, when they fell to Colorado State 55-44.
• UNC's offense struggled with the Rams zone defense early on and then when CSU switched to man-to-man the woes set back in.
• Krystal Leger-Walker recorded a career-best 10 assists in the loss.
• When the Bears offense was clicking, they played well with good ball moment recording 17 assists on 18 made baskets.
• UMKC is 2-8 for the year, under first year coach Jacie Hoyt.
• Both of the Roos wins have come at home against non-DI schools in Lincoln University and Harris-Stowe State.
• Tuesday's game is the first of two at the Roo Holiday Classic Hosted by UMKC. Liberty and Denver are also apart of the tournament.

Last Time Out
Northern Colorado struggled against Colorado State's changing defenses slowed down the UNC offense, as the Bears fell to the Rams 55-44. Northern Colorado shot 32.7 percent from the field, making just 3-of-21 3-pointers. Courtney Smith was the lone Bear in double figures scoring with 14 points on 7-of-15 shooting.

Scouting the Roos
Missouri-Kansas City is under the leadership of first-year head coach Jacie Hoyt after being an assistant coach at Kansas State for the previous three seasons. Her Roos are 2-8 on the year with both wins coming against non-DI opponents.

UMKC has faced a challenging schedule including Nebraska, Iowa State, Kansas and Wichita State all on the road. The Roos have played at home just three times this season with a 2-1 record.

Senior Aries Washington is leading UMKC in scoring with 18.2 points per game, connecting on 47.7 percent of her shots including going 37.5 percent from 3-point land. Teammates Kristen Moore and Samantha Waldron join Washington with 13.4 and 10.0 points per game, respectively in double figures.

Moore is leading the Roos with 7.3 rebounds per game. Daijane Dillard is a very big pass-first point guard with 3.4 assists per game and averaging just 2.0 points while starting all 10 games.

Opponents are scoring almost 70 points per game against Missouri-Kansas City, while they allow opponents to shoot 43.2 percent against them.

Expectations are low for UMKC this season coming into the year picked to finish seventh by both the coaches and media this season.

Last Time Against UMKC
UMKC shot 53.6 percent in the first half against UNC and that big offensive output was enough to push the Roos past the Bears 61-52. Northern Colorado struggled on offense in the first half shooting just 25.9 percent overall, while coming back in the second to shoot 46.2 percent. Three Bears finished the game in double figures led by Kate Kevorken's 18 points and eight rebounds effort.

Against the WAC
For the first time since 2015, UNC will take on a team for the Western Athletic Conference. The Bears last played a WAC school in December of 2015 when they traveled to Grand Canyon University. Overall, Northern Colorado has faced WAC schools 25 times for a 14-11 record. New Mexico State is the most common opponent from the conference for the Bears have faced the Aggies seven times.

On This Date
Northern Colorado is playing on the 19th of December for the second straight year and fourth time in five seasons. Last year, UNC defeated Pacific 60-56 on the road. On the date overall, UNC is 4-8 including 1-3 when on the road.

Scotty's Senior Leadership
Savannah Scott is looked upon as one of the team leaders for UNC, and for good reason both on and off the court. The senior is leading by example on the court, averaging 17.0 points per game and 5.1 rebounds to lead the team in scoring and tied for second in rebounds.

She earned her second Big Sky Player of the Week honor and the College Sports Madness Mid-Major and Big Sky Player of the Week award for her performances against BYU and Pacific. Scott, averaged 23.5 points, 5.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals in the two games. She shot an impressive 68.4 percent from the field including hitting five of her seven 3-point attempts and making all 16 of her free throws.

Scott is approaching a couple of impressive career marks in 1,000 career points, and 500 rebounds. She enters Tuesday's game with 999 points and 433 rebounds. With her next point scored, Scott will become the 20th player in program history to surpass the 1,000 points mark.

She led the Bears with a career-high 35 points, along with six rebounds, two steals, a block and an assist. Over her 36 minutes played, she hit nine of her 13 shot attempts including four 3-pointers. More impressive was her performance at the free throw line, going a perfect 13-for-13.

With the big first week of play, Scott earned a pair of weekly honors, being named Big Sky Player of the Week and the College Sports Madness Big Sky Player of the Week.

Gaining National Respect
Northern Colorado's strong start to the 2017-18 season is receiving respect from around the nation. UNC earned votes for the second time in program history in the November 20th AP Top 25 ending up with three points in the poll. The first time the Bears earned votes in the poll came last January.

The Bears also received votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll Top 25 that was released Tuesday, November 21, ending up with a total of 25 points in it.

UNC currently stands at No. 9 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25, released on December 12th. The Bears cracked the top five earlier in the season when they were ranked No. 3, the highest the program has ever reached in the poll.

Not only are the Bears earning respect from the College Insider poll, but Swish Appeal ranked UNC one of the Top 10 Mid-Major teams to watch out for in 2017-18. UNC took the No. 6 spot on the list.

Northern Colorado is ranked No. 2 in ESPN Mid-Major power rankings done by Graham Hays.

Big Time Wins
The Bears have started the season strong, with a pair of big-time wins against DePaul and LSU. The win over DePaul to open the season was not only a big win for the 2017-18 Bears, but for the program. The 94-88 victory over the No. 20/25 Blue Demons is the first in the program's DI history over a top 25 ranked team.

When UNC hosted LSU, it was the first time that the Bears played an SEC opponent. Outside of a Pac 12 team, the win was the first over a power five school.

Northern Colorado added to its list of solid wins, by knocking off BYU at home in overtime 79-74. The Cougars are a constant near the top of the Mid-Major polls every year and often in the NCAA Tournament.

Charity Stripe
The free throw line should be automatic points for a team, and that is definitely the case for Northern Colorado. The Bears are second in all of NCAA Division I with an 84.3 free throw percentage. The team has hit 118 of its 140 free throw attempts. Savannah Scott leads the team with an 87.5 percentage from the charity stripe, ranking third in the Big Sky and 38th in the NCAA.

Free throws have been a key factor in the team's wins this season. When the Bears make more free throws than its opponents they are 5-0 this season. Against DePaul, UNC connected on 33 of its 37 free throw attempts for a percentage of 89.2. Savannah Scott hit 13 of those 33 made free throws, not missing any of her attempts.

Northern Colorado had another strong free throw performance against BYU going 23-of-25, including Savannah Scott's 10-for-10 performance.

Dominating the Paint
Louisiana State may have had the height advantage on paper, but it was Northern Colorado's Courtney Smith who dominated the paint against the Tigers. She led all scorers with 26 points as LSU looked to slow down the UNC guards giving Smith plenty of room to do work.

On the year, Smith is averaging 14.3 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Three-Headed Monster
The Bears' three-headed monster of Savannah Scott, Savannah Smith and Courtney Smith is off to a good start this season, averaging a combined 45.2 points per game for the team.

With the Assist
Since Kamie Ethridge took over the UNC women's basketball program in 2014, ball moment and assists have been a big part of the Bears identity. That is once again the case this year, with Northern Colorado averaging 16.1 assists per game this season. That ranks first in the Big Sky and 63rd in the NCAA.

Krystal Leger-Walker leads the team with 5.0 apg and a 1.88 assist-to-turnover ratio. Those numbers rank her third and second in the Big Sky in both categories and 68th and 127th in the nation, respectively.

Leger-Walker put together her first career double-digit assist game against Colorado State when she had 10 of the teams 17 assists in the game. The 10 assists were two shy of the program's DI record of 12 by Courtney Stoermer.

Kiwi Does it all
Senior Kianna Williams does a little bit of everything for the Northern Colorado women's basketball team. She is averaging 5.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. She is leading the team with those 5.4 rebounds. Williams biggest impact for the team doesn't even make it into her side of the box score but instead locking down the opponents top scorer with her versatility to guard four different positions on the court.

The Opening Month
UNC has a track record of getting out to a strong start to begin its year. The Bears are 93-73 during the month of November, including going 18-6 under head coach Kamie Ethridge. Last season, Northern Colorado went 5-1 during the 11th month of the calendar year.

UNC once again got out to a strong start this season, with a 5-2 record that included wins over DePaul, LSU and BYU.

High Expectations
Expectations are high inside the gym for the 2017-18 UNC women's basketball team both internally and externally. The Bears are the preseason favorites to win the Big Sky this season according to both the conference's media and coaches. Northern Colorado edged out North Dakota in both polls released earlier in October.

Bracketology
It's early in the season, but by being picked as the preseason favorites in the Big Sky UNC earned spots in a pair of Bracketologies to begin the year. According to both ESPNW and College Sports Madness coming into the year, they had the Bears as a No. 15 seed. ESPNW had the Bears traveling to Notre Dame and CSM with UNC going to Ohio State.

Preseason Honors
Redshirt junior Savannah Smith has the eye of opposing coaches coming into this season. Smith earned a spot on the Preseason All-Big Sky team. The team is voted on by the conference's coaches. Smith was a big part of the team's success last year leading the team in scoring with 15.9 points per game while averaging 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.0 steals. That strong performance earned her first team All-Big Sky honors.

Familiar Faces
A big reason for the high expectations for this season's team is due to the fact so many familiar faces return to the court. The Bears return all five of its starters from last season, and 78.5 percent of all its minutes played.

To Be the Best, Play the Best
Head coach Kamie Ethridge and her staff put together a strong and challenging non-conference schedule for their team. It all starts against preseason Top-25 DePaul on November 10 in Chicago. Other highlights of the schedule include the home opener on November 13 against LSU and home dates against BYU, Nov. 30, and Colorado State, Dec. 10. UNC takes on Quinnipiac, who made it to the Sweet 16 in last season's NCAA Tournament on the road as well on Nov. 22.

Welcome Freshman
Northern Colorado welcomes a pair of athletic guards in Tiarna Clarke and Alexis Chapman. Clarke comes to UNC from New Zealand, where she was a teammate of fellow Bear Krystal Leger-Walker on the countries U17 team. Chapman caught the eye of the Bears coaching staff with her dynamic playmaking to bring her to Greeley from Garland, Texas.

Home Sweet Home
The Bears enjoyed playing on their home court last season, going 11-3 inside Bank of Colorado Arena. The strong home record included a 10-game win streak on home court. Under Coach E, UNC is 32-12 when playing in Greeley.

Feeling 22!
Northern Colorado felt 22 during the 2016-17 season tying the school's win record for a single season. The 22 wins tied with the 2014-15 team that went on to the third round of the WNIT that season.

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 three 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.

New Bear Cubs
The Northern Colorado women's basketball program welcomed a pair of new players to its 2018 recruiting class on Nov. 8, when Grace Vaofusi and Michaela Jones signed their National Letter of Intent to join the program. Both are athletic and versatile 5'9' guards that can play a variety of positions for UNC. Vaofusi comes to UNC from Wellington, New Zealand bringing the team's Kiwi count up to three, while Jones is from Wymore, Nebraska.

UNC added in one more new Bear just before the November signing period closed out, with Micayla Isenbart signing with the team. The Stratton, Colorado native adds some size to the Bears roster coming in at 5' 11".

What's Ahead?
UNC finishes its non-conference season and the Roo Holiday Classic as they take on Liberty in a neutral site game on Wednesday at 12 pm. Following that the team is off until December 28 when they open Big Sky play at Eastern Washington.

Northern Colorado's next home game is on January 4 against defending Big Sky Champion Montana State at 7 pm.