University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Saturday, December 30
Moscow, Idaho
3:00 pm
University of Northern Colorado
10-3, 2-0
78
at
72
Idaho
5-8, 1-1
1
2
3
4
F
Northern Colorado
21
15
12
30
78
Idaho
12
20
19
21
72
Recap: Key Shots in 4th Quarter Leads @UNCBearsWBB Over Idaho
12/30/2017 6:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball
A big fourth quarter led UNC women's basketball to a 78-72 comeback win over Idaho Saturday.
MOSCOW, Idaho – Northern Colorado needed clutch shots at key times to earn a 78-72 win at Idaho Saturday afternoon to move to 2-0 in Big Sky Play. The win is also the team's 10th of the season, while Idaho falls to 5-8 on the season and 1-1 in the Big Sky.
Four Bears finished the game in double figures scoring, led by Savannah Smith's 24 points.
It was a trio of 3-pointers that pushed the Bears towards the victory after entering the fourth quarter trailing the Vandals by three. Kianna Williams connected on a 3 in back-to-back possessions to cap off an 11-2 run putting UNC up by nine with 3:17 left. Savannah Scott made a triple of her own with 1:20 left to shut the door on a possible Idaho comeback.
Northern Colorado led throughout the majority of the first half jumping out to a 21-12 lead after the first quarter. Idaho's leading scorer and Big Sky-leading scorer Mikayla Ferenz picked up two fouls just a little over four minutes into the game and ended up sitting the rest of the first quarter. The Bears took advantage of the Vandals foul trouble, outscoring UI 11-4 the remainder of the quarter.
The second quarter became the Tiarna Clarke show for UNC as she came off the bench and provided a spark for the team. She scored eight points including a pair of 3-pointers, while also recording an assist, blocking a shot and grabbing a rebound. With Clarke's effort, the Bears led 36-32 at the break.
Idaho reclaimed the lead for the first time since early in the game, during the third quarter as the Bears offense struggled to see the ball go through the basket. Northern Colorado ended up with scoring droughts of three minutes and two minutes and forty seconds during the period and they ended up shooting just 25.0 percent in the quarter.
The Vandals shot 44.4 percent during the third and outscored UNC 19-12 to lead 51-48 going into the fourth.
UNC trailed by as much as six early in the fourth quarter, but then the offense came alive, sparked by another 3-pointer from Clarke. The Bears ended up outscoring Idaho 16-2 over a four-minute span to take control of the game and lead by as much as eight.
Following the run from UNC, it was then the key shots from its seniors Scott and Williams that sealed the deal for the team's 78-72 win.
What They Said
Head Coach Kamie Ethridge
Overall thoughts on the game
"I am really excited for this team for what it accomplished on this road trip. To start right after Christmas on the road in conference and come away with two wins is impressive. You see another talented team like North Dakota lose these two game you realize how tough of games these are to win. It says a lot about our team and how focused we were and how good we were to take on the challenges we played against."
About Kianna Williams' performance
"Idaho's game plan was to challenge Kianna (Williams) to make shots. She missed a few shots and became shy in the third quarter and we just challenged her to shoot it. In her typical toughness and being a senior and will to win she stepped up and made them pay for their game plan."
The impact of Tiarna Clarke off the bench
"Tiarna (Clarke) came in and played well for us off the bench. They played soft off of her as well letting her shot and she made them pay. Her defense in the second half was fantastic and I thought she bounced back well after a subpar game for her against Eastern Washington. She just came back really focused with a great mindset and it showed in her stat line."
About the team's defense
"We guarded a really hard team today. Savannah Smith did a really good job against (Taylor) Pierce and also did a fantastic job scoring. Krystal made two huge threes and helped hold Idaho below its average in threes. Our goal was to hold them under their average in 3-point shooting and that is just what we did. This team is just showing it is a tough out. It was a great way to start conference play and close out 2017 and gives us a lot to look forward to in 2018."
Game Changer
Savannah Smith did a little bit of everything for UNC Saturday afternoon. She led the team with 24 points while adding three rebounds, three steals and two assists to her stat line. While she recorded two assists in the official stat sheet, it was her passes before the pass that led to the basket that was key in the team's win.
Stat to Know
Idaho had difficulties all game long holding onto the ball. The Vandals ended up turning the ball over 23 times leading to 29 points off turnovers for UNC. Ten of those 23 turnovers came via a steal from the Bears.
Game Notes
- Tiarna Clarke finished the game with a career-high 12 points, including a trio of shots made from behind the arc. She also grabbed three rebounds, dished out three assists and had one block in 19 minutes of action.
- The senior duo of Savannah Scott and Kianna Williams hit key shots for the Bears during the fourth quarter and ended up combining for 28 points. Williams was challenged by Idaho to beat them and she did just that scoring 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting while adding in four assists, four steals and three rebounds. Scott struggled with her shot throughout the game but ended up still scoring 14 points, including a key 3-pointer while having four assists, four rebounds and two steals.
- Northern Colorado shot 56.3 percent in the fourth quarter, including connecting on five 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Idaho struggled in the fourth, shooting 29.4 percent as the Bears outscored the Vandals 30-21.
- UNC held Idaho to just six made 3-pointers for the game when they came into Saturday averaging 9.9 makes a game.
What's Ahead?
Northern Colorado returns home next week as they host the Montana schools. Montana State will first visit Bank of Colorado Arena on Thursday, January 4 at 7 pm. MSU is 1-0 after the first week of Big Sky play. Montana then comes to town on January 6 at 2 pm.
Tickets for those games and all UNC women's basketball games can be purchased through the UNC Ticket office at Nottingham Field, by calling 970-351-4849 or by going to UNCBears.com/Tickets.
To stay up to date with all things Northern Colorado women's basketball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @UNCBearsWBB.
Four Bears finished the game in double figures scoring, led by Savannah Smith's 24 points.
It was a trio of 3-pointers that pushed the Bears towards the victory after entering the fourth quarter trailing the Vandals by three. Kianna Williams connected on a 3 in back-to-back possessions to cap off an 11-2 run putting UNC up by nine with 3:17 left. Savannah Scott made a triple of her own with 1:20 left to shut the door on a possible Idaho comeback.
Northern Colorado led throughout the majority of the first half jumping out to a 21-12 lead after the first quarter. Idaho's leading scorer and Big Sky-leading scorer Mikayla Ferenz picked up two fouls just a little over four minutes into the game and ended up sitting the rest of the first quarter. The Bears took advantage of the Vandals foul trouble, outscoring UI 11-4 the remainder of the quarter.
The second quarter became the Tiarna Clarke show for UNC as she came off the bench and provided a spark for the team. She scored eight points including a pair of 3-pointers, while also recording an assist, blocking a shot and grabbing a rebound. With Clarke's effort, the Bears led 36-32 at the break.
Idaho reclaimed the lead for the first time since early in the game, during the third quarter as the Bears offense struggled to see the ball go through the basket. Northern Colorado ended up with scoring droughts of three minutes and two minutes and forty seconds during the period and they ended up shooting just 25.0 percent in the quarter.
The Vandals shot 44.4 percent during the third and outscored UNC 19-12 to lead 51-48 going into the fourth.
UNC trailed by as much as six early in the fourth quarter, but then the offense came alive, sparked by another 3-pointer from Clarke. The Bears ended up outscoring Idaho 16-2 over a four-minute span to take control of the game and lead by as much as eight.
Following the run from UNC, it was then the key shots from its seniors Scott and Williams that sealed the deal for the team's 78-72 win.
What They Said
Head Coach Kamie Ethridge
Overall thoughts on the game
"I am really excited for this team for what it accomplished on this road trip. To start right after Christmas on the road in conference and come away with two wins is impressive. You see another talented team like North Dakota lose these two game you realize how tough of games these are to win. It says a lot about our team and how focused we were and how good we were to take on the challenges we played against."
About Kianna Williams' performance
"Idaho's game plan was to challenge Kianna (Williams) to make shots. She missed a few shots and became shy in the third quarter and we just challenged her to shoot it. In her typical toughness and being a senior and will to win she stepped up and made them pay for their game plan."
The impact of Tiarna Clarke off the bench
"Tiarna (Clarke) came in and played well for us off the bench. They played soft off of her as well letting her shot and she made them pay. Her defense in the second half was fantastic and I thought she bounced back well after a subpar game for her against Eastern Washington. She just came back really focused with a great mindset and it showed in her stat line."
About the team's defense
"We guarded a really hard team today. Savannah Smith did a really good job against (Taylor) Pierce and also did a fantastic job scoring. Krystal made two huge threes and helped hold Idaho below its average in threes. Our goal was to hold them under their average in 3-point shooting and that is just what we did. This team is just showing it is a tough out. It was a great way to start conference play and close out 2017 and gives us a lot to look forward to in 2018."
Game Changer
Savannah Smith did a little bit of everything for UNC Saturday afternoon. She led the team with 24 points while adding three rebounds, three steals and two assists to her stat line. While she recorded two assists in the official stat sheet, it was her passes before the pass that led to the basket that was key in the team's win.
Stat to Know
Idaho had difficulties all game long holding onto the ball. The Vandals ended up turning the ball over 23 times leading to 29 points off turnovers for UNC. Ten of those 23 turnovers came via a steal from the Bears.
Game Notes
- Tiarna Clarke finished the game with a career-high 12 points, including a trio of shots made from behind the arc. She also grabbed three rebounds, dished out three assists and had one block in 19 minutes of action.
- The senior duo of Savannah Scott and Kianna Williams hit key shots for the Bears during the fourth quarter and ended up combining for 28 points. Williams was challenged by Idaho to beat them and she did just that scoring 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting while adding in four assists, four steals and three rebounds. Scott struggled with her shot throughout the game but ended up still scoring 14 points, including a key 3-pointer while having four assists, four rebounds and two steals.
- Northern Colorado shot 56.3 percent in the fourth quarter, including connecting on five 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Idaho struggled in the fourth, shooting 29.4 percent as the Bears outscored the Vandals 30-21.
- UNC held Idaho to just six made 3-pointers for the game when they came into Saturday averaging 9.9 makes a game.
What's Ahead?
Northern Colorado returns home next week as they host the Montana schools. Montana State will first visit Bank of Colorado Arena on Thursday, January 4 at 7 pm. MSU is 1-0 after the first week of Big Sky play. Montana then comes to town on January 6 at 2 pm.
Tickets for those games and all UNC women's basketball games can be purchased through the UNC Ticket office at Nottingham Field, by calling 970-351-4849 or by going to UNCBears.com/Tickets.
To stay up to date with all things Northern Colorado women's basketball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @UNCBearsWBB.
Team Stats
NC
UI
FG%
.429
.421
3FG%
.429
.400
FT%
.706
.857
RB
28
42
TO
12
23
STL
10
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballPG
/ Women's BasketballG/PG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballWomen's Walk Recap 2025
Wednesday, July 30
Head Coach Mattio, Neenah George, and London Gamble Post Game Press Conference vs Weber State
Wednesday, May 21
Coach Mattio, Silvia Nativi, and Gabi Fields Post Game Press Conference vs Northern Arizona
Wednesday, May 21
Coach Mattio, London Gamble, and April Rummery-Lamb Post Game Press Conference vs Portland State
Wednesday, May 21
