University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Saturday, March 10
Reno, Nev.
1:05 PM
University of Northern Colorado
26-6
91
vs
69
Idaho
19-13
1
2
3
4
F
Idaho
16
15
13
25
69
Northern Colorado
19
24
23
25
91
Recap: @UNCBearsWBB Big Sky Champions
3/10/2018 5:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Northern Colorado women's basketball punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a 91-69 win over Idaho
RENO, Nev. – Northern Colorado women's basketball won its first Big Sky Tournament Championship and berth into the NCAA Tournament in convincing fashion over Idaho Saturday afternoon with a 91-69 win over Idaho.
(3/10/2018) WBB Big Sky Tournament Championship
Both teams were feeling each other out in the first quarter, trading baskets throughout, with UNC leading 11-8 near the midway mark. At that point, the team went on a three and a half minute scoring drought, but Idaho was only able to go from down three to up three during it. Smith drained a three as time expired in the quarter, to put the team up 19-16 after the first 10 minutes.
Northern Colorado quickly stretched its lead to six to begin the second off another Smith three, but then played within two positions until the 6:32 mark. Tiarna Clarke started an 11-0 run for the Bears with a 3-pointer and Smith capped it off with two more to put the team up double figures for the first time with 4:42 left in the half. UNC extended its lead to 12 by the half as Smith scored 20 over the first 20 minutes.
The third quarter is when Northern Colorado put away the game with a 10-0 run from the halfway mark to the final minute of the quarter. It was the Savannah duo of Smith and Scott scoring all 10 points during it while forcing UI into three turnovers and four missed shots during it.
Up 22 going to the fourth, Idaho made a push at UNC, cutting the lead to 18 twice, but never any closer than that. The Bears shut the door close when Scott, connected on back-to-back 3s and fellow senior put the cherry on top with an and one with a little over four minutes to go.
What They Said
Head coach Kamie Ethridge
Overall thoughts on the game
"Just about everything good for us happened. We really wanted to take the three away from them and I thought our defense just suffocated them. You just saw what a senior and upperclassman led class can do and what we look to continue to do."
About the difficulties of playing in a championship game
"I told the team yesterday's game was just as tough as today's game in getting to today. Then you add in that it was Idaho State and you can add pressure on ourselves. We knew Idaho was going to be a tough challenge and you never know how a game is going to break. With the kind of leadership we have, I felt confident about our group coming into the game."
Redshirt junior guard Savannah Smith
On handling the nerves of a big game
"One thing I try and do is to treat this like any other game. For me, nervous can set in by I just fed off the energy of the team and went out and played."
Senior Savannah Scott
What the win means
"It's amazing, I have been crying this whole time and its tears of joy. I am just so happy and so proud right now."
Senior Kianna Williams
What the team's key was on defense
"We knew that if we could not give them open 3s and wanted to make them beat us by hitting twos."
What the win means
"It feels great today and we knew we were a good team, but we still knew we had something to prove coming into the tournament and didn't want to come up short."
Game Changer
Idaho had no answer for Savannah Smith. The redshirt junior guard scored a career-high 34 points on 11-of-18 shooting including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. She scored in a variety of ways for the team and set the tone offensively as the Vandals tried to slow her down she found open teammates for easy baskets on the way to a career-high tying eight assists. Smith added two steals and two rebounds to her stat line as well. Smith's efforts throughout the tournament earned her MVP of it.
Stat to Know
Northern Colorado's defense challenged Idaho to beat them with the two, not the three. They did just that, holding Idaho, who averaged over 10 3-pointers a game, made only six on 16 attempts. More impressive is they held UI to one 3 in the second half and only one attempt in the fourth quarter.
Game Notes
- The Bears leadership trio of Savannah Smith, Savannah Scott and Kianna Williams combined for 62 points, 15 rebounds, 13 assists, and four steals. While Smith led in scoring and assists, Scott led with seven rebounds and Williams added in a pair of blocks.
-Northern Colorado's bench came up big on Saturday afternoon, outscoring Idaho's 25-7. Tiarna Clarke was her steady self with nine points all coming on made 3s, while Alexis Chapman played a huge nine minutes hitting a pair of trios on her way to eight points, three rebounds an assist steal and block.
- UNC shot a blistering 54.0 percent from the field, including making 14 of 25 of its 3-point attempts.
What's Ahead?
It's on to the NCAA Tournament! Northern Colorado will learn who, when and where on Monday during #SelectionMonday. The NCAA Women's Basketball Selection Show airs at 5 pm MT on ESPN.
Bears fans are encouraged to join the coaches and team at Cables Pub and Grill, 1923 59th Ave., on Monday, March 12th at 5 p.m. for a live viewing of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Selection Show. This Show will feature the announcement of where your Big Sky Champions will play their opening round game.
Ticket orders for the NCAA Women's Basketball First Round will be available starting at 9 am Tuesday online at UNCBears.com or via phone at 970-351-4849 starting at 10 am. All orders placed by end of the day on Wednesday will receive priority placement based on your support of UNC Athletics through ticket purchases and donations. Ticket pricing will be announced following the Selection Show on Monday.
To stay up to date on all things UNC women's basketball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @UNCBearsWBB.
Both teams were feeling each other out in the first quarter, trading baskets throughout, with UNC leading 11-8 near the midway mark. At that point, the team went on a three and a half minute scoring drought, but Idaho was only able to go from down three to up three during it. Smith drained a three as time expired in the quarter, to put the team up 19-16 after the first 10 minutes.
Northern Colorado quickly stretched its lead to six to begin the second off another Smith three, but then played within two positions until the 6:32 mark. Tiarna Clarke started an 11-0 run for the Bears with a 3-pointer and Smith capped it off with two more to put the team up double figures for the first time with 4:42 left in the half. UNC extended its lead to 12 by the half as Smith scored 20 over the first 20 minutes.
The third quarter is when Northern Colorado put away the game with a 10-0 run from the halfway mark to the final minute of the quarter. It was the Savannah duo of Smith and Scott scoring all 10 points during it while forcing UI into three turnovers and four missed shots during it.
Up 22 going to the fourth, Idaho made a push at UNC, cutting the lead to 18 twice, but never any closer than that. The Bears shut the door close when Scott, connected on back-to-back 3s and fellow senior put the cherry on top with an and one with a little over four minutes to go.
What They Said
Head coach Kamie Ethridge
Overall thoughts on the game
"Just about everything good for us happened. We really wanted to take the three away from them and I thought our defense just suffocated them. You just saw what a senior and upperclassman led class can do and what we look to continue to do."
About the difficulties of playing in a championship game
"I told the team yesterday's game was just as tough as today's game in getting to today. Then you add in that it was Idaho State and you can add pressure on ourselves. We knew Idaho was going to be a tough challenge and you never know how a game is going to break. With the kind of leadership we have, I felt confident about our group coming into the game."
Redshirt junior guard Savannah Smith
On handling the nerves of a big game
"One thing I try and do is to treat this like any other game. For me, nervous can set in by I just fed off the energy of the team and went out and played."
Senior Savannah Scott
What the win means
"It's amazing, I have been crying this whole time and its tears of joy. I am just so happy and so proud right now."
Senior Kianna Williams
What the team's key was on defense
"We knew that if we could not give them open 3s and wanted to make them beat us by hitting twos."
What the win means
"It feels great today and we knew we were a good team, but we still knew we had something to prove coming into the tournament and didn't want to come up short."
Game Changer
Idaho had no answer for Savannah Smith. The redshirt junior guard scored a career-high 34 points on 11-of-18 shooting including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. She scored in a variety of ways for the team and set the tone offensively as the Vandals tried to slow her down she found open teammates for easy baskets on the way to a career-high tying eight assists. Smith added two steals and two rebounds to her stat line as well. Smith's efforts throughout the tournament earned her MVP of it.
Stat to Know
Northern Colorado's defense challenged Idaho to beat them with the two, not the three. They did just that, holding Idaho, who averaged over 10 3-pointers a game, made only six on 16 attempts. More impressive is they held UI to one 3 in the second half and only one attempt in the fourth quarter.
Game Notes
- The Bears leadership trio of Savannah Smith, Savannah Scott and Kianna Williams combined for 62 points, 15 rebounds, 13 assists, and four steals. While Smith led in scoring and assists, Scott led with seven rebounds and Williams added in a pair of blocks.
-Northern Colorado's bench came up big on Saturday afternoon, outscoring Idaho's 25-7. Tiarna Clarke was her steady self with nine points all coming on made 3s, while Alexis Chapman played a huge nine minutes hitting a pair of trios on her way to eight points, three rebounds an assist steal and block.
- UNC shot a blistering 54.0 percent from the field, including making 14 of 25 of its 3-point attempts.
What's Ahead?
It's on to the NCAA Tournament! Northern Colorado will learn who, when and where on Monday during #SelectionMonday. The NCAA Women's Basketball Selection Show airs at 5 pm MT on ESPN.
Bears fans are encouraged to join the coaches and team at Cables Pub and Grill, 1923 59th Ave., on Monday, March 12th at 5 p.m. for a live viewing of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Selection Show. This Show will feature the announcement of where your Big Sky Champions will play their opening round game.
Ticket orders for the NCAA Women's Basketball First Round will be available starting at 9 am Tuesday online at UNCBears.com or via phone at 970-351-4849 starting at 10 am. All orders placed by end of the day on Wednesday will receive priority placement based on your support of UNC Athletics through ticket purchases and donations. Ticket pricing will be announced following the Selection Show on Monday.
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
UI
NC
FG%
.458
.540
3FG%
.375
.560
FT%
.750
.692
RB
31
34
TO
14
10
STL
5
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
34
FGM
11
3FGM
5
FTM
7
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballPG
/ Women's BasketballG/PG
/ Women's BasketballG
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