University of Northern Colorado Athletics
University of Northern Colorado
19-4, 11-1
Idaho
12-11, 7-5
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The Smiths Lead @UNCBearsWBB Past Idaho Thursday Night
2/9/2017 9:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Savannah and Courtney Smith combined for 46 points as UNC women's basketball defeated Idaho 71-67
MOSCOW, Idaho – Northern Colorado's women's basketball team leaned on the tandem of Savannah and Courtney Smith to hold off Idaho Thursday night 71-67. The win improved the Bears to 11-1 in Big Sky play and 19-4 overall.
How it Happened
Northern Colorado started fast with a pair of 3-pointers to earn the 6-0 lead less than two minutes in from Kianna Williams and Krystal Leger-Walker.
Idaho responded scoring the next five points of the game, as the teams proceeded to play within a possession of each other through the majority of the first quarter.
A Vandal layup right before the buzzer sent the game into the second quarter tied at 18.
The second quarter became the Smith show for UNC as Savannah and Courtney Smith took over. It began with an S. Smith three from NBA range to open up the quarter, and the duo went from there, scoring a combined 16 points in it.
It was not just the scoring of the Smiths that helped UNC in the quarter, the team's defense held Idaho scoreless for three minutes. During that time, S. Smith and C. Smith scored seven of their 16 points for UNC as they built a double digit lead.
Northern Colorado ended up taking a nine point lead into the half.
The Bears appeared to have the game under control, leading by 13 with seven minutes left in the third, before someone seemed to have put a lid on the team's basket.
Over the final 6:55 of the third, Northern Colorado scored just two points, coming from Courtney Smith at the free throw line, allowing Idaho to come back and make it a one-point game heading to the fourth.
After getting good looks, but unable to convert them in the third, UNC scored on it first three possessions to begin the fourth, building its lead back up to eight.
Idaho wouldn't go away quietly though, traveling on a 7-0 run in under a minute to cut the Bears lead back to one with 2:14 remaining.
The teams traded scores, before Savannah Smith hit her biggest shot of the night, a step-back three from the left side to put Northern Colorado up four with just over a minute left. The team's ended up trading baskets, until Savannah Scott sealed the win for UNC with a pair of free throws.
Game Changer
If your last name was Smith and you played for Northern Colorado, you had a big night. The duo combined for 46 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Savannah led the duo with 24 points, half of them coming from beyond the arc. Meanwhile Courtney provided a solid complement inside with 22 of her own. She also had a career-high three steals.
Notable
- After struggling last Saturday, UNC's offense got back on track Thursday night, shooting 44.3 percent from the field. The more important number came from the free throw line where the Bears hit all 10 of their attempts.
- Kianna Williams had a solid all-around game for Northern Colorado scoring seven points and grabbing nine rebounds.
- Three-point defense was going to be a key for UNC to pick up the win Thursday, and they did their job, holding Idaho to just six made treys when they averaged 10.7 coming into the game.
Quotable
Head Coach Kamie Ethridge
Overall Thoughts
"We had a great performance by our team tonight after a tough loss to North Dakota. We couldn't have put a bigger challenge ahead of us in going on the road to play against these two teams in Idaho and Eastern Washington. Idaho just presents many challenges with the way they shoot the three. It was a great team effort, managing the game from start to finish really well by limiting our turnovers. We built a lead and then got into some foul trouble having to take both Savannah Smith and Krystal out."
About Savannah and Courtney Smith
"Savannah Smith was by far the best player on the court tonight. She could just score almost any time she wanted to and if she wasn't scoring she was creating shots for Courtney Smith who Idaho struggled guarding. Playing those two in the pick and roll game tonight one of them scored almost every time."
Message going into the fourth quarter
"I just felt like we were going to get back in it in the fourth. We had to sit Savannah some during that quarter and only scored 10 points. My message to the team was to just dig in and get back at Idaho and do what they just did to us with the run. We got out to a great start to the fourth extending our lead. Then we played really smart down the stretch and had two big plays by our team. The first was a Courtney Smith put back and then obviously Savannah Smith's step back three to push the lead to four."
What's Next?
The Bears close out their road trip on Saturday when they head to Eastern Washington. UNC and EWU are set to tip-off at 3 pm Mountain Time. The Eagles lost to North Dakota Thursday night 75-71.
