Recap: @UNCBearsWBB Sweeps Montana Schools With 78-63 Win at Montana State

Saturday, February 3

Bozeman, Mont.

2:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

15-6, 7-3BSC

Montana State

12-9, 6-4BSC

Northern Colorado

Montana State

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

2/3/2018 6:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Northern Colorado women's basketball swept the Montana schools for the first time with a 78-63 at Montana State

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Northern Colorado (16-6, 8-3 BSC) women's basketball made history on Saturday afternoon, completing the season sweep of Montana and Montana State for the first time with a 78-63 win over MSU (13-9. 7-4). The Bears used another strong second half performance to earn the win scoring 47 points on 60.0 percent shooting.

Savannah Smith carried the team's offensive production in the first quarter starting the game fast with 15 points after 10 minutes of play. The only other Bear to score in the quarter was Tiarna Clarke as she drained a pair of 3-pointers. Behind the 21 points from those two, UNC led 21-15.

Smith cooled down in the second and the Bears offense struggled to find the bottom of the basket shooting 25.0 percent. With the UNC offensive struggles, Montana State used a 9-0 run to tie to the game by four-minute mark and closed the half on a 7-0 run to lead 36-31 at the break. Foul trouble also plagued the Bears late in the half as four Bears had two or more fouls by the end of it.

Seniors Kianna Williams and Savannah Scott had a big third quarter for UNC to give the team the lead. The Californian duo scored 17 of the team's 27 points in the quarter. Montana State kept pace with Northern Colorado's offense through the first five minutes of the quarter, but a three-minute scoring drought allowed UNC to build a six-point lead, which ended up seven by the end of the third at 58-51.

Williams hit a 3-pointer to end the third quarter, and opened up the fourth with another to extend UNC's lead to 10. Northern Colorado ended leading by double figures for the majority of the fourth quarter and extended it to as much as 18 at one point. The Bears ended up outshooting the Bobcats 47.1 percent to 28.6 in the fourth.

What They Said
Head Coach Kamie Etheridge

Overall thoughts on the game
"We had a tremendous team effort against a very very good team. We started the game as good as we possibly could and Savannah Smith was unbelievably good to get us going. With the foul trouble, I felt good about being down just five at the half. During halftime, we talked about improving our floor spacing and make them work to guard us more off the bounce. The third quarter turned the tide for us and we really got to the basket well. When you look at our team what makes us so good and at our best is when so many players play so well in their role like they did tonight."

About strong individual performances
"Our post players in Abby Kain and Bridget Hintz did a good job in defense down low. Krystal did a good job of pushing the pace and getting us into the offense, and then Savannah Smith and Savannah Scott just kept teams off balance with the different ways they can score. I don't want to forget Kianna Williams was tremendous making three or four big baskets at the end of the shot clock for us."

On what the weekend meant and how to move forward with the momentum
"It was just a good game where we played well in all of our roles the way we can and had good team chemistry on the floor. This game and weekend will just keep on growing our confidence moving forward through the months of February and March."

Game Changer
Montana State struggled with players holding the first name Savannah all game long. Savannah Scott and Smith combined for 45 points on 19-of-40 shooting, including knocking down five 3-pointers. Smith scored 15 of her game-high 24 in the first quarter and had 18 by the half. Scott took over from there, after only scoring two points in the first half, she went off for 10 in the third quarter and finished the game with 21 overall. The duo added in a combined eight rebounds, four assist and four steals as well.

Stat to Know
Just like Thursday night, UNC had a strong second half offensively shooting 60.0 percent while holding MSU to 38.5 percent.

Game Notes
- Kianna Williams finished with her third career double-double and second of the season scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
- Krystal Leger-Walker filled up the stat sheet with five points, six rebounds, six assists, a block and a steal.
- Abby Kain and Bridget Hintz played well down low for the Bears, scoring eight points, grabbing six rebounds, dishing out three assists and blocking one shot, while affecting many more shots on the defensive end.

What's Ahead?
Northern Colorado returns home for another big week of Big Sky basketball, starting on Thursday when Idaho State comes to town. It will be a noon tipoff between the Bears and Bengals for Health and Hoops day.

Tickets for the game and all UNC women's basketball games can be purchased at UNCBears.com/tickets, at the UNC Box Office Monday-Friday 10 am – 5 pm or by calling 970-351-4849.

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