University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Thursday, December 13
Greeley, Colo.
7pm
University of Northern Colorado
5-3
68
vs
65
Chattanooga
4-7
1
2
3
4
OT 1
F
Chattanooga
14
14
12
19
6
65
Northern Colorado
22
7
11
19
9
68
Photo by: Dean Popejoy
Chapman's career-night leads @UNCBearsWBB over Chattanooga in Overtime
12/13/2018 10:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball
UNC women's basketball earned its first win of the 2018-19 season over Denver 74-66
Grind it out, that's exactly what UNC women's basketball did Thursday night in a 68-65 overtime win over visiting Chattanooga. The Bears, who jumped out to the early lead found a way to win by grinding out the final three quarters of play and overtime.
Alexis Chapman was a key consistent for the team offensively as she scored a career-high 23 points, including making five of her eight 3-point attempts.
Savannah Smith returned to action after missing UNC's last game with an injury, joining Chapman by scoring 20 points including going a very important 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
The Bears made the big plays late in overtime when they needed them to earn the win. It started with a Krystal Leger-Walker 3-pointer with a little over a minute left in overtime and continued on a pair of Savannah Smith layup to extend the lead back to three. Ali Meyer's sixth offensive rebound of the game was the biggest with 5.4 seconds left to all but seal the UNC win.
Northern Colorado jumped out to a 22-14 lead in the first quarter, as Smith showed off her playmaking abilities scoring 10 points in the final 3:29 of the opening 10 minutes of play. The Bears shot an impressive 56.3 percent from the field in the quarter, including both Smith and Chapman making a pair of 3-pointers.
Chattanooga started the second quarter strong opening it on an 11-2 run cutting the Bears lead to 24-23. The game stayed close the rest of the way as the Bears offense did not return to its first quarter form. While the offense struggled, the team's defense once again played a key role.
UNC held Chattanooga to 33.9 percent shooting for the game, and Northern Colorado outrebounded the Mocs 41-37.
The Bears had the final shot of regulation, but unable to covert and the game went to overtime.
What they said
Head Coach Jenny Huth
Overall Thoughts on the game
"The layoff obviously is hard and then we did not practice much with Savannah Smith. I think we were just a little bit out of rhythm. Just the layoff of getting back into the continuity of playing back together with each other was tough for us. I am really proud Alexis (Chapman) and the lift she gave tonight on offense. Krystal (Leger-Walker) hit a big three late in overtime that gave us a lift, Savannah hit free throws down the stretch and Ali and Bridget patrolled the paint well too. We did some really good things, it was just the rhythm that we didn't have."
What does it mean that the team can earn the grind it out a win
"I am proud of them. We are not super deep so sometimes when you don't have a super deep team you do have to grind it. Chattanooga threw a couple of things differently at us that we had not seen. They guarded Savannah all the way at half court because they knew she has that kind of range. They put pressure on us in the backcourt after makes and we had not seen a ton of that. So those types of things that Chattanooga did, made it more of a grinder for us."
Sophomore guard Alexis Chapman
On her career-night scoring
"My shots were just going in and my teammates saw that early on and were able to find me in good spots."
Junior Center Bridget Hintz
What's that mindset when the ball hits the rim for a rebound
"We have an attack mindset. We work on it a lot at practice and if you are crashing there is a good chance that the ball is going to land in your hands."
Stat to know
Late game defense has been key for Northern Colorado throughout the season and once again was tonight. The Bears held Chattanooga to 1-of-8 shooting in the overtime period and forced two turnovers.
Game notes
- Ali Meyer extended her streak of games with double-digit rebounds to six games. She grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, including six on the offensive end of the floor.
- Bridget Hintz just missed out on her second career double-double scoring 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
- The win at home extends UNC's home win streak nine games.
What's ahead?
Northern Colorado closes out its non-conference schedule before Christmas with a trip to BYU on December 21. The 2018-19 Big Sky season starts at home on December 29 against Sacramento State at 2 pm.
To stay up to date on all things UNC women's basketball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @UNCBearsWBB.
Alexis Chapman was a key consistent for the team offensively as she scored a career-high 23 points, including making five of her eight 3-point attempts.
Savannah Smith returned to action after missing UNC's last game with an injury, joining Chapman by scoring 20 points including going a very important 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
The Bears made the big plays late in overtime when they needed them to earn the win. It started with a Krystal Leger-Walker 3-pointer with a little over a minute left in overtime and continued on a pair of Savannah Smith layup to extend the lead back to three. Ali Meyer's sixth offensive rebound of the game was the biggest with 5.4 seconds left to all but seal the UNC win.
Northern Colorado jumped out to a 22-14 lead in the first quarter, as Smith showed off her playmaking abilities scoring 10 points in the final 3:29 of the opening 10 minutes of play. The Bears shot an impressive 56.3 percent from the field in the quarter, including both Smith and Chapman making a pair of 3-pointers.
Chattanooga started the second quarter strong opening it on an 11-2 run cutting the Bears lead to 24-23. The game stayed close the rest of the way as the Bears offense did not return to its first quarter form. While the offense struggled, the team's defense once again played a key role.
UNC held Chattanooga to 33.9 percent shooting for the game, and Northern Colorado outrebounded the Mocs 41-37.
The Bears had the final shot of regulation, but unable to covert and the game went to overtime.
What they said
Head Coach Jenny Huth
Overall Thoughts on the game
"The layoff obviously is hard and then we did not practice much with Savannah Smith. I think we were just a little bit out of rhythm. Just the layoff of getting back into the continuity of playing back together with each other was tough for us. I am really proud Alexis (Chapman) and the lift she gave tonight on offense. Krystal (Leger-Walker) hit a big three late in overtime that gave us a lift, Savannah hit free throws down the stretch and Ali and Bridget patrolled the paint well too. We did some really good things, it was just the rhythm that we didn't have."
What does it mean that the team can earn the grind it out a win
"I am proud of them. We are not super deep so sometimes when you don't have a super deep team you do have to grind it. Chattanooga threw a couple of things differently at us that we had not seen. They guarded Savannah all the way at half court because they knew she has that kind of range. They put pressure on us in the backcourt after makes and we had not seen a ton of that. So those types of things that Chattanooga did, made it more of a grinder for us."
Sophomore guard Alexis Chapman
On her career-night scoring
"My shots were just going in and my teammates saw that early on and were able to find me in good spots."
Junior Center Bridget Hintz
What's that mindset when the ball hits the rim for a rebound
"We have an attack mindset. We work on it a lot at practice and if you are crashing there is a good chance that the ball is going to land in your hands."
Stat to know
Late game defense has been key for Northern Colorado throughout the season and once again was tonight. The Bears held Chattanooga to 1-of-8 shooting in the overtime period and forced two turnovers.
Game notes
- Ali Meyer extended her streak of games with double-digit rebounds to six games. She grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, including six on the offensive end of the floor.
- Bridget Hintz just missed out on her second career double-double scoring 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
- The win at home extends UNC's home win streak nine games.
What's ahead?
Northern Colorado closes out its non-conference schedule before Christmas with a trip to BYU on December 21. The 2018-19 Big Sky season starts at home on December 29 against Sacramento State at 2 pm.
To stay up to date on all things UNC women's basketball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @UNCBearsWBB.
Team Stats
UTC
NC
FG%
.339
.407
3FG%
.316
.308
FT%
.750
.667
RB
35
43
TO
13
17
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/PG
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