University of Northern Colorado Athletics
University of Northern Colorado
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Eastern Washington
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@UNCBearsWBB Falls At Eastern Washington Saturday Afternoon
2/11/2017 6:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball
A couple big plays late led Eastern Washington over Northern Colorado Saturday afternoon
CHENEY, Wash. – Some key shots late from Eastern Washington sunk Northern Colorado Saturday afternoon in a 57-51 game. The Bears, move to 19-5 overall with the loss and 11-2 in Big Sky play. The Bears are still tied for first place in the Big Sky after North Dakota lost Saturday as well.
How It Happened
The combination of strong shooting from Eastern Washington and offensive struggles led to a 10 point Eagles' lead at the first quarter media timeout. EWU's lead grew to as many as 12, before UNC's offense finally started clicking.
Savannah Scott, who hit the team's lone basket in the first eight minutes of the game, was the spark to start the Bears offense with an and-one play at the 1:50 mark. She ended up scoring Northern Colorado's first nine points of the game.
The Bears ended the quarter on an 11-0 run to cut the EWU lead to 15-14 heading into the second.
UNC earned its first lead of the game during the second quarter on a Katie Longwell three from the corner, to make it a 24-23 Bears advantage at the midway point of the quarter.
Over the final five minutes of the half, the teams traded the lead three times and evened the score twice. The game looked to be headed to the half tied, but Eastern Washington's Tisha Phillips hit a shot just inside half court to put EWU up 33-30.
In the third quarter, the team's battled back and forth as UNC kept EWU within one possession through most of it until the Eagles went on a quick 6-0 run to go up eight.
The Bears clawed their way back, making it a three point game after Krystal Leger-Walker got a member's only bounce on a corner three.
Eastern was once again the beneficiary of a buzzer beater before the end of the quarter though as Delany Hodgins hit a 15-foot jumper just before time expired to have the Eagles up 50-45.
Northern Colorado quickly tied the game up at 50 to begin the fourth with one of Savannah Scott's five 3-pointers, and a Courtney Smith layup.
The teams remained deadlocked until Delany Hodgins hit four big shots from behind the arc over a three-minute span to give EWU a nine point lead, proving to be enough as UNC never got within more than five the rest of the way.
Game Changer
Each team had a player finish with 22 points, and each player proved to be big for their team Saturday afternoon. For Northern Colorado, Savannah Scott scored the team's first nine points of the game and went on to miss just one shot in the game going 8-of-9 from the field including a career-high five treys. Meanwhile, Delany Hodgins came up big for Eastern Washington with 22 points of her own. Twelve of those 22 points came during the games' biggest moments as she hit four big threes for the Eagles helping to lead them to the victory over the Bears.
Notable
- Ball movement was key for the Bears as they finished the game with 24 assists on all 24 made field goals. It came out to be an even 12 and 12 split for each half.
- Courtney Smith had another strong performance for the Bears, scoring 18 points on 75.0 percent shooting (8-12) grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out a career-high tying four assists.
- Points in the paint were key during the game, as Eastern Washington outscored the Northern Colorado in the area 40-26. They also outrebounded UNC 32-28 and had more second chance points 16-6.
Quotable
Head Coach Kamie Ethridge
Overall Thoughts on the game
"I am disappointed in the fact that we didn't have the most energy on the court today. We have lost a little bit of our momentum and lost a little bit of our grit and focus in how we have to play to be successful. We are not talented enough to come on the road and play anyone in this league and not be the hardest working team. I think we got outplayed and out-hustled and outworked by a very good Eastern Washington team, which we were just not good enough to beat when being outworked."
About Savannah Scott
"Savannah Scott was a tremendous player and maybe the lone bright star for our team. She fought in every way imaginable. She kept us in it with unbelievable three point shooting and offensive play, giving us a chance to be in the game. It is unfortunate we did not respond very well and give her enough offensive help to win this game that was certainly winnable for us."
How the team needs to move forward
"Now we have a chance to regroup and get our focus back. We have a lot to play for still, starting with our last two home games where we should be excited to play in front of our great home crowd. Then we have some tough ones on the road to finish out the regular season. I am hoping this wakes us up a little bit, and gets us back to fundamentally who we are and what we have to be to be successful."
What's Next?
UNC returns home next week for its final homestand of the season. They begin it by hosting Weber State on Thursday at 7 pm. UNC defeated the Wildcats in Ogden earlier this season 88-79.
