Recap: Clarke's Career Night Leads @UNCBearsWBB over Northern Arizona

Thursday, February 15

Flagstaff, Ariz.

6:30 pm

University of Northern Colorado

19-6, 11-3BSC

Northern Arizona

5-19, 2-11BSC

Northern Colorado

Northern Arizona

2/15/2018 9:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Tiarnna Clarke scored a career-high 19 points in the team's 85-63 win over Northern Arizona

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Tiarna Clarke stepped into the starting line up with teammate Savannah Scott out and looked like a seasoned vet in Northern Colorado's 85-63 win over Northern Arizona (5-19, 2-11 Big Sky). Clarke scored 11 of her career-high 19 points in the first quarter to get the Bears going.

Northern Colorado (19-6, 11-3 Big Sky) led 16-14 at the end of the first thanks to Clarke's efforts including hitting a trio of 3s. Making 3-pointers became a trend for the Bears on the night, as they ended the game with 14 makes from downtown.

The Bears extended its lead in the second quarter by going on a 13-4 run behind 3-pointers by Clarke, Kianna Williams and Krystal Leger-Walker. Northern Colorado led 36-28 at the half, with 16 points from Clarke.

Following having one point at the half, Savannah Smith took over the game in the third by scoring 18 points for UNC. The team put together what head coach Kamie Ethridge called "one of its best quarters of the season." Northern Colorado shot 66.7 percent from the field during it while holding NAU to just 33.3 percent. The Bears outscored the Lumberjacks 30-9 for the quarter and led 66-37 going to the fourth.

With the game in hand, Northern Colorado saw strong minutes out of its bench, including Kirsten Kramer scoring eight points, hitting a pair of 3s. Of the team's 19 points in the fourth, 12 came from the bench on the way to the 85-63 win.

What They Said
Head coach Kamie Ethridge

On Tiarna Clarke's performance
"Tonight was a tremendous team effort. You can't overlook what Tiara Clarke did stepping in for Savannah Scott. She literally kept us in it in the first half with her threes and shot-making and scoring. She had 16 points at the half and she handled the ball well. Northern Arizona could not guard her. I loved the way she competed and played tonight having to fill in some big shoes for us."

About the team's strong third quarter
"At halftime, we just made a big emphasis on who are we going to be coming out of the half and how we are going to compete for the rest of the game. We ended up putting together one of our best quarters with team defense stopping them from anything they wanted to do. Then on offense, we scored in every which way imaginable."

How big of a team win it was moving forward
"Savannah Smith was great in the second half for us. Plus we also got a solid all-around performance from Krystal Leger-Walker and Kianna Williams was amazing. It was a really, really good team effort and gives us confidence moving forward on the road. We had a great first half of it but still have to finish the second half of the trip strong on Saturday."

Game Changer
Tiarna Clarke stepped up for injured teammate Savannah Scott Thursday night, leading the team in the first half scoring 16 points. That strong first half led to a career-high 19 points for the game on 7-of-11 shooting including four 3-pointers. Along with the scoring, Clarke grabbed five rebounds and two steals over her 32 minutes of play.

Stat to Know
Northern Colorado went on a 14-0 run during its big third quarter. Of those 14 points during the run, 12 came from Savannah Smith on her way to 18 points in the 10-minute period.

Game Notes
- The 14 made 3-pointers are a season-high for Northern Colorado, topping the previous high of 12 at Idaho in December.
- Good ball movement led to a lot of baskets for UNC Thursday night, tallying 20 assists on 34 made baskets. Krystal Leger-Walker led the team with six, while Kianna Williams had five and Savannah Smith four.
- Williams just missed out on her third double-double of the season, adding 11 points and nine rebounds to her six assists for the game.
- Savannah Smith led the Bears in scoring with 21 points. She added in four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

What's Ahead?
The Bears close out its road portion of the season on Saturday when they face Southern Utah at 12:30 pm. It is the only meeting between the two teams this season. SUU fell to North Dakota at home Thursday night 68-53.

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