Recap: Smith's Buzzer-Beating Three Lifts @UNCBearsWBB Over Weber State

Saturday, February 10

Greeley, Colo

12pm

University of Northern Colorado

18-6, 10-3BSC

Weber State

16-7, 8-4BSC

OT 1

Weber State

Northern Colorado

2/10/2018 5:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Savannah Smith's buzzer-beating 3-pointer lifted Northern Colorado over Weber State in overtime 71-69

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Every kid dreams of hitting a game-winning shot as the clock winds down for her team at the end of a big game, for Savannah Smith that dream became a reality. She capped off a 15 point 71-69 comeback, overtime win over Weber State (16-7, 8-4 Big Sky) Saturday afternoon with a side-step 3-pointer with 0.4 left on the clock.

The Bears (18-6, 10-3 Big Sky) struggled in the first half, trailing 16-14 after the first quarter and 39-30 at the half. The deficit grew to 15 at the 6:21 mark of the third quarter, before UNC outscored WSU 28-13 to force overtime.

Weber State and UNC traded 5-0 runs in the first quarter and traded baskets, for the most part, the rest of the way. In the second, it was the same story outside of a key 6-0 run by the Wildcats to move the lead to nine and stay there at the half. The Bears were outshot in the first half 43.2 percent to 39.2. Four made 3-pointers in the second quarter helped Weber extend its lead to nine.

Three early turnovers in the third gave WSU four points in part of an 8-2 run expanding the lead to 15. On her way to her first career double-double, Krystal Leger-Walker started UNC's comeback with a corner 3 to make it a 47-35 game. UNC continued to chip away at the WSU lead and made it single digits with Smith scoring six of the 11 points on an 11-3 run. By the end of the third, Northern Colorado had cut the deficit to seven at 52-45.

In the fourth quarter, Northern Colorado's offense continued to play at a consistent pace, while the defense really locked down. Larryn Brooks of Weber State hit one of two free throws at the 9:11 mark and the Wildcats did not score again, until 4:04 on the clock.

Over that time, UNC went on a 12-0 run behind the Savannah's. Scott started the run with a layup and had four of the points early on. Smith, put the Bears in the lead with her 3-pointer at the 5:59 mark. UNC went on to lead by as much as four before WSU tied it with just under three minutes left.

The Wildcats regained the lead on a Brooks 3 with 2:32 on the clock but did not score again in regulation after that. UNC missed a couple of chances to pull within one before Leger-Walker knocked down another big 3-pointer to even the game a 60 with 35 seconds remaining. Tiarna Clarke played good defense against Jaiamoni Welch-Coleman who missed a 3 before the buzzer to force overtime.

Weber State jumped ahead by five early in the extra period as turnovers by UNC gave them easy baskets. Just like in regulations it was good defense and timely offense that led to the Bears comeback. Smith was the focal point of the Bears offense in the overtime period with Scott out due to a leg injury. She made a layup and then drew a foul to cut the WSU lead to one with under a minute left. Bridget Hintz scored her only two points of the game when Weber State crashed in on a driving Smith who dished it of for the layup with 13 seconds left to put the Bears up by one.

Following a timeout, Brooks drove down the right baseline to put her team back up one and just 4.3 remaining. Head coach Kamie Ethridge called a timeout to draw up the game-winning play. After receiving the inbounds pass, Smith patiently waited to look to drive for the game-winning two but thought she was fouled and pulled the 3 that splashed through the net with 0.4 seconds left to complete the comeback win for UNC.

What They Said

Head Coach Kamie Ethridge

Overall thoughts on the game
"Weber State is a hard matchup. There was nothing that made us feel like we did well that we could go back to and get going. It was kind of just a mix and match of plays put together. The way we started I was thankful to only be down nine at the half with how bad our energy was. It was a gut check time at halftime and we challenged the team to pick up our pace. When we did that it gave us easier looks at the rim and helped.

About Savannah Smith's performance
"Savannah Smith making the baskets was key, but she did a good job against Brooks of Weber State. She's a tough competitor who I got on earlier in the game, but she came back and kept battling. We asked her after the game if she knew she was 1-for-8 from behind the arc and she said 'no'."

Redshirt-junior guard Savannah Smith

On the game-winning shot
"I honestly thought I kind of got fouled. After that, I used the space and thought I better get the shot up. After watching it go in I was kind of in shock and just saw all of my teammates running toward me."

On defending Weber State
"They are a tough team to guard with the combination of shooters and drivers they have. I thought we did a good job today of stopping their drivers and not sagging off of the shooters to give them easy looks

Game Changer
Savannah Smith not only hit the game-winning shot but was the team's go-to player down the stretch. She ended the game with 27 points, the most of any player in the contest. She also grabbed five rebounds, dished out three assists and swiped away a steal in 41 minutes of play.

Stat to Know
The 15 point comeback is the third biggest in the program's history. UNC trailed by 15 near the six-minute mark of the third quarter but stormed back to force overtime and earn the win.

Game Notes
- A pair of Bears finished the game with a double-double in Savannah Scott and Krystal Leger-Walker. Scott had 19 points and 10 rebounds in 33 minutes of play for her sixth career double-double. Leger-Walker recorded her first career double-double with a career-high in both points (13) and rebounds (11).
- Turnovers hurt UNC early in the game as WSU turned them into points. Of the Wildcats 22 points off turnovers, most of the points came early in the game.
- Kianna Williams was patrolling the paint all game long, recording a career-high four blocks.
- The Bears held Weber State to just one made a field goal in the fourth quarter, as they shot 11.1 percent. Overall, WSU only scored eight points in the fourth, with five of those points coming at the free throw line.

What's Ahead?
The Bears look to stay atop the Big Sky standings when they hit the road one last time. UNC will head to Flagstaff, Arizona to face Northern Arizona at 6:30 pm Thursday night.

To stay up to date on all things UNC women's basketball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @UNCBearsWBB.