Preview: @UNCBearsWBB Returns Home, Looks for Win Over Idaho

Thursday, January 25

Greeley, Colo

7 pm

University of Northern Colorado

Idaho

Tickets

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

1/23/2018 2:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Northern Colorado Notes

Northern Colorado returns home after a two-week road trip looking for a win over Idaho

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado women's basketball returns home after a couple of weeks away from Bank of Colorado Arena, looking to rebound from a loss its last time out. The Bears are currently in a four-way tie for first place in the Big Sky at 5-2 and host Idaho who is just a game behind the leaders at 4-3. UNC and UI will tipoff at 7 pm MT.

Tickets to the game can be purchased at UNCBears.com/Tickets, by visiting the UNC Athletics Box Office from 10-5 Monday through Friday or by calling 970-351-3645. For fans unable to make it to the game, they can watch on Pluto TV channel 241 or WatchBigSky.com. The game will also have an audio stream on UNCBears.com along with live stats. Northern Colorado's Twitter account @UNCBearsWBB will also be providing updates throughout.

Opening Tip
• Northern Colorado looks to rebound after North Dakota earned a comeback victory over UNC 78-70 last Saturday.
• In the loss, Savannah Smith scored 26 points and became the 21st member of the 1,000 points club.
• UNC is in a four-way tie with Weber State, Montana and Eastern Washington at 5-2 in the Big Sky. The Bears are currently 2-1 against those teams with rematches against each still to come.
• Idaho went 2-0 last week, defeating Northern Arizona and Southern Utah at home
•The Vandals are 3-2 since last playing UNC in December. Overall, UI is 8-10 and 4-3 in the Big Sky.
• Mikayla Ferenz is the Big Sky's leading scorer with 22.8 ppg and ranks eighth nationally. In conference games only she is scoring 26.2 ppg.

Gameday Happenings
Thursday's game is sponsored by Wells Fargo, who will be providing stuffed ponies to some of the first people through the doors. Along with the ponies, one lucky UNC student will win some Beats headphones during an in-game promotion.

Last Time Out
Northern Colorado played a great first half against North Dakota holding a 14 point lead going to the break, but then everything went UND's way in the second half. The Bears made just two baskets in the third quarter and ended up falling to the Fighting Hawks 78-70. Savannah Smith led all scorers with 26 points in the game.

Scouting The Vandals
Since the last time Northern Colorado and Idaho last met, the Vandals are 3-2, leading to a 4-3 Big Sky record. UI is coming off a 2-0 weekend having defeated Southern Utah and Northern Arizona at home.

Idaho is led by the three-headed beast of Mikayla Ferenz, Geraldine McCorkell and Taylor Pierce. The trio is averaging 52.8 points a game for UI. As a team, Idaho is scoring 71.9 ppg.

Ferenz is the team's leading scorer with 22.8 points per game ranking first in the Big Sky and eighth in the nation. In conference play, she is averaging an impressive 26.6 points a game.

A key to Idaho's offensive production in the 3-point shot. The Vandals are making 10.7 3s a game, but opponents are hitting 8.2 per game against them.

Last Time Against Idaho
It was key shots at key times that lead Northern Colorado over Idaho earlier this season in Moscow 78-72. Kianna Williams started an 11-2 run with back-to-back 3s to put UNC in the lead late and a Savannah Scott 3-pointer shut the door with 1:20 remaining. Savannah Smith led the Bears with 24 points, while three other Bears scored in double figures as well.

Against the Big Sky
UNC joined the Big Sky in the 2006-07 season and has gone 111-98. Overall, the team is 123-136 against Big Sky Schools.

Closing in on 600
The Northern Colorado women's basketball program is closing in on a big number, that being 600 wins. The next time UNC wins a game will be the program's 600th overall.

On This Date
UNC is looking to end a three-game losing streak when playing on January 25. The Bears are 3-7 overall on the date, but have not played at home on it since 2002. When at home, Northern Colorado is 2-2.

Scotty's Senior Leadership
Savannah Scott joined a special group of in UNC women's basketball history on December 19 when she joined the 1,000 points scored club. Scott became the 20th player in Bears basketball history to do so. She currently sits at 1,160 points for 12th all-time. The next player Scott can pass on the list is Lou Piel and her 1,260 points for 11th.

It's no surprise that Scott joined the special club, as she is one of the leaders of this UNC team. Scott is currently averaging 17.4 points to lead the team, along with 4.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists, both third best on the team. She has scored 20 plus points seven times this season. She is averaging 16.3 points 4.9 rebounds in Big Sky play.

Scott earned MVP of the Roo Holiday Classic by averaging 23.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists on 66.7 percent shooting.

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.

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.

Oh So Savvy
Savannah Smith impacts the game in a multitude of ways for UNC, with her scoring ability leading to open teammates and finding them, along with her quickness on defense to swipe away the ball from opponents.

Smith is averaging 17.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.7 steals per game this season. She became the 21st member of the 1,000 points club at UNC on January 20. Smith, joins teammate Savannah Scott in the club. The last time two Bears joined the 1,000 points club in the same season was in 2014-15 when D'shara Strange and Stephanie Lee did so.

She scored a career-high 32 points against Montana State on January 4, shooting 10-of-22 from the field including knocking down six 3-pointers. She was also perfect from the free throw line making all six of her attempts. Fifteen of those 32 came in the fourth quarter to help put the game away for UNC.

Smith has been playing well during the early part of the Big Sky season, averaging 21.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 3.0 assists.

During the first week of conference play, she earned College Sports Madness Big Sky Player of the Week by averaging 20.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 2.0 assists. Not noted on the stat line were the hockey-like, second assists that Smith had against Eastern Washington and Idaho.

Kiwi Does it All
Senior Kianna Williams does a little bit of everything for the Northern Colorado women's basketball team. She is averaging 7.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. She is leading the team with those 5.6 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.

Williams packed the stat sheet at Weber State when she recorded a career-high in steals with eight, to go with 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

She recorded her second career double-double on Thursday against Montana State with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Six of her 11 rebounds came on the offensive end.

Williams hit some key shots for the Bears against Idaho including draining a pair of 3's late to secure the win for the team. The Vandals challenged Kiwi to beat them, and she did just that scoring 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting while dishing out four assists and coming up with four steals.

With teammate Savannah Smith out against UMKC, Williams helped step up for UNC on the offensive end. She ended up finishing the game with 17 points hitting a pair of 3s and making all six of her free throws. Williams also grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists. She joined teammates Savannah Scott and Courtney Smith on the All-Tournament team for the Roo Holiday Classic.

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 83.5 free throw percentage. The team has hit 248 of its 297 free throw attempts. Savannah Scott leads the team with a 90.9 percentage from the charity stripe, ranking first in the Big Sky and seventh 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
Courtney Smith is a big presences in the paint for UNC to offset the guard duo of Savannah Smith and Savannah Scott. Smith is averaging 13.3 points and 5.2 rebounds a game while leading the team in field goal percentage at 54.8 percent. Smith's shots are not just close to the basket, but she can step away from the paint and knock down plenty of jumpers too.

After facing foul trouble in the first half against UMKC, Smith scored 17 points in the second half on her way to a game-high 24 points. She shot 10-13 from the field in the game and also grabbed eight rebounds. She went on to earn All-Tournament honors by averaging 18.5 points and 5.5 rebounds on 72.7 percent shooting.

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.

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 45.9 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 15.4 assists per game this season. That ranks third in the Big Sky and 78th in the NCAA.

Krystal Leger-Walker leads the team with 4.2 apg and a 1.39 assist-to-turnover ratio. Those numbers rank her sixth and eighth in the Big Sky in both categories and 132nd and 192nd 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.

Burning Down the Nets
The duo of Savannah Scott and Courtney Smith have been burning down the net this season, ranking first and second in field goal percentage in the Big Sky. Smith leads the way with a 54.8 percentage, while Scott is shooting 51.0 percent. Those numbers put Smith 47th in the nation and Scott 82nd.

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. 20 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25, released on January 16th. 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.

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.

Step into the Light
Freshman Tiarna Clarke earned her first career start against UMKC with Savannah Smith out with an injury. Clarke didn't play like a freshman seeing the extended minutes, scoring 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting including hitting a trio of 3-pointers. She also passed out a career-best six assists while playing all 40 minutes.

Clarke has become the team's sixth man, averaging 20.2 minutes off the bench leading to 5.0 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists a game.

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.

Bracketology
The Bears continue to show up in a pair of Bracketologies this season done by ESPNW and College Sports Madness. According to both ESPNW, the Bears are currently projected to be a No. 11 seed come March. UNC would head out to Hollywood to face Rutgers in the first round with the winner to most likely face UCLA. CSM has Northern Colorado a little further down the seed line at No. 15 and facing second-seeded Louisville in the first round.

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.

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 33-13 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?
Northern Colorado closes out the weekend by hosting Eastern Washington on Saturday at high noon. The Bears defeated the Eagles earlier this year in Cheney, 70-65. Before taking on UNC, EWU faces North Dakota Thursday night.