University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Thursday, January 24
Cedar City, Utah
6:30pm
University of Northern Colorado
12-6 (7-2)
71
at
44
Southern Utah
5-12 (2-6)
1
2
3
4
F
Northern Colorado
11
21
20
19
71
Southern Utah
16
10
10
8
44
Photo by: Dean Popejoy
Meyer's double-double, career-high help @UNCBearsWBB past Southern Utah
1/24/2019 9:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball
A slow start didn't slow down UNC women's basketball as they defeated Southern Utah 71-44
CEDAR CITY, Utah – A sluggish start didn't deter Northern Colorado women's basketball as they improved to 12-6 on the year and 7-2 in the Big Sky with a 71-44 win over Southern Utah Thursday night.
UNC had four players finish the game in double figures scoring, led by Savannah Smith's 19 points. Teammate Ali Meyer scored a career-high 15 points and recorded her third double-double of the season with 12 rebounds. Krystal Leger-Walker and Abby Kain were the other two Bears scoring double-digit points with 11 and 10, respectively.
Southern Utah jumped out to a 12-3 lead to start the game and made it 16-11 by the end of the first quarter as UNC struggled shooting going 28.6 percent.
The Bears gained some confidence and momentum at the end of the first quarter and it carried over for the rest of the game. UNC started the second quarter strong making its first three field goal attempts to tie the game at 18. The teams then battled back and forth until Northern Colorado closed the half on a 10-2 run to take the 32-26 lead to the half. Savannah Smith scored seven of her first half 10 points in the second quarter and UNC's offense broke out of its slump by shooting 55.6 percent in the quarter.
Northern Colorado's offense stayed hot after halftime by making the first three 3s and shooting 50.0 percent overall. It was not just the Bears offense, but the defense as well that helped them pull away from Southern Utah. UNC held SUU without a basket for a stretch of five minutes and 18 seconds, as six of their 10 points in the third quarter came from the free throw line.
Up 52-36 entering the fourth quarter, Northern Colorado held the Thunderbirds to just one field goal in the fourth as they shot 3-for-22 (13.6%) in the second half.
What they said
Head Coach Jenny Huth
About what changed after the slow start
"We had some good open looks but just didn't convert. We refocused after they hit three threes against us and locked into our game plan on that end of the floor."
On the play of Ali Meyer and Abby Kain
"Ali and Abby have experience and they are competing every day. Both understand the importance of being a presence! I'm proud of how they stepped up in Bridget's absence."
What led to the domination in the paint
"We had more patience on the offensive end and we've made a few tweaks so that has helped us. Our bigs are delivering inside which gives us a more balanced attack! What I am most proud of tonight is our 19 assists!"
Stat to know
The paint was paint at America First Event Center was painted blue and gold all night long as UNC outscored SUU 48-4 in the paint
Game notes
- Northern Colorado had great ball movement all night long recording 19 assists, the second highest total of the season for the team. Krystal Leger-Walker led the Bears with eight, while Savannah Smith had six.
- UNC outshot Southern Utah 46.9 percent to 26.0. The 26.0 percent shooting is the lowest a Northern Colorado opponent has shot against them this season.
- Ali Meyer passed the 200 rebound mark for the season with her 12 boards. She now has 202 for the season.
- The 27 point win is the largest margin of victory for the year for UNC.
- Freshman Shian Hanks played her first career minutes finishing the game with two minutes played and a foul
Around the Big Sky
It was all chalk on Thursday in the conference as the top half of the league defeated the bottom half of the league. The lone change in the standings is Montana State broke its tie with Montana for fifth place as the Bobcats improved to 5-3 in conference play while UM fell to 4-4.
What's Ahead
It's a quick trip to Cedar City and back for UNC as they will return home to host Northern Arizona on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm.
Tickets for the game against Northern Arizona and any UNC women's basketball game can be purchased by clicking here.
To stay up to date on all things UNC women's basketball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @UNCBearsWBB.
UNC had four players finish the game in double figures scoring, led by Savannah Smith's 19 points. Teammate Ali Meyer scored a career-high 15 points and recorded her third double-double of the season with 12 rebounds. Krystal Leger-Walker and Abby Kain were the other two Bears scoring double-digit points with 11 and 10, respectively.
Southern Utah jumped out to a 12-3 lead to start the game and made it 16-11 by the end of the first quarter as UNC struggled shooting going 28.6 percent.
The Bears gained some confidence and momentum at the end of the first quarter and it carried over for the rest of the game. UNC started the second quarter strong making its first three field goal attempts to tie the game at 18. The teams then battled back and forth until Northern Colorado closed the half on a 10-2 run to take the 32-26 lead to the half. Savannah Smith scored seven of her first half 10 points in the second quarter and UNC's offense broke out of its slump by shooting 55.6 percent in the quarter.
Northern Colorado's offense stayed hot after halftime by making the first three 3s and shooting 50.0 percent overall. It was not just the Bears offense, but the defense as well that helped them pull away from Southern Utah. UNC held SUU without a basket for a stretch of five minutes and 18 seconds, as six of their 10 points in the third quarter came from the free throw line.
Up 52-36 entering the fourth quarter, Northern Colorado held the Thunderbirds to just one field goal in the fourth as they shot 3-for-22 (13.6%) in the second half.
What they said
Head Coach Jenny Huth
About what changed after the slow start
"We had some good open looks but just didn't convert. We refocused after they hit three threes against us and locked into our game plan on that end of the floor."
On the play of Ali Meyer and Abby Kain
"Ali and Abby have experience and they are competing every day. Both understand the importance of being a presence! I'm proud of how they stepped up in Bridget's absence."
What led to the domination in the paint
"We had more patience on the offensive end and we've made a few tweaks so that has helped us. Our bigs are delivering inside which gives us a more balanced attack! What I am most proud of tonight is our 19 assists!"
Stat to know
The paint was paint at America First Event Center was painted blue and gold all night long as UNC outscored SUU 48-4 in the paint
Game notes
- Northern Colorado had great ball movement all night long recording 19 assists, the second highest total of the season for the team. Krystal Leger-Walker led the Bears with eight, while Savannah Smith had six.
- UNC outshot Southern Utah 46.9 percent to 26.0. The 26.0 percent shooting is the lowest a Northern Colorado opponent has shot against them this season.
- Ali Meyer passed the 200 rebound mark for the season with her 12 boards. She now has 202 for the season.
- The 27 point win is the largest margin of victory for the year for UNC.
- Freshman Shian Hanks played her first career minutes finishing the game with two minutes played and a foul
Around the Big Sky
It was all chalk on Thursday in the conference as the top half of the league defeated the bottom half of the league. The lone change in the standings is Montana State broke its tie with Montana for fifth place as the Bobcats improved to 5-3 in conference play while UM fell to 4-4.
What's Ahead
It's a quick trip to Cedar City and back for UNC as they will return home to host Northern Arizona on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm.
Tickets for the game against Northern Arizona and any UNC women's basketball game can be purchased by clicking here.
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
NC
SUU
FG%
.469
.260
3FG%
.250
.214
FT%
.833
.556
RB
34
39
TO
11
18
STL
10
3
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/PG
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