No. 11 UCLA Tops UNC

Friday, November 22

Los Angeles, Calif.

8 pm

University of Northern Colorado

2-4,0-0Big Sky

UCLA

4-0,0-0Pac-12

Northern Colo.

UCLA

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

11/22/2019 11:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Northern Colorado fell in head coach Jenny Huth's return to LA

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

LOS ANGELES, Calif.- Northern Colorado women's basketball faced off against No. 11 UCLA on Friday night, falling to the Bruins 92-58. It was a return to Pauley Pavilion for head coach Jenny Huth, who served as an assistant for UCLA for eight seasons prior to leading the Bears.

"UCLA is a really good team and they showed it tonight," Huth said. "They had not been playing a full 40 minutes and they competed against us for the whole game. I appreciated that and we competed right back with them for the whole game. One of their best players, Michaela [Onyenwere], did not have a good game and I liked how we defended her. Our bench production was really good. We had 34 points and I think that is important when we get into Big Sky games. I thought Alexis had a good game and scored well. Kurystn had a good matchup tonight and gave us some offense. She's growing as a player and has great hands to handle the pressure in the paint."

The Bruins controlled the paint in the game, scoring 52 points to the Bears' 16.

Natalie Chou led all scorers with 19 points on seven-of-nine shooting. Alexis Chapman was UNC's high scorer with 18 points on six-of-12 shooting, including three-of-seven from behind the arc.

UCLA was aggressive on defense, forcing 25 UNC turnovers, while only committing 11. The Bears were out-rebounded in the game 38 to 28.

The Bruins shot lights-out in the first quarter, going 10-of-14 and three-of-six from three-point range. UNC was held to a 25% shooting percentage as UCLA jumped ahead with a 31-11 lead after one quarter.

UNC adjusted between quarters and improved their shooting in the second. Chapman scored five points in the quarter and the team had a 36% shooting percentage. UCLA was held to a 31% percentage but won the quarter 16-12. The Bruins went into halftime with a 47-23 lead over the Bears.

In the third quarter, UCLA got back to what was working for them in the first. They forced nine turnovers and finished with a 46% shooting percentage in the quarter.

Trailing 74-36, UNC did not pack it in during the final quarter. The Bears had a 63% shooting percentage in the fourth. Chapman scored eight points in the quarter with two made three pointers. UNC would out-score the Bruins 22-18 in the fourth. The team did not quit, but the deficit was too much, and UCLA won the game 92-58. UNC fell to 2-4 on the season and UCLA improved to 4-0.

The Bears did not get the win on Friday night, but the crowd did show their appreciation for Huth, Kari Korver and Christian Blanks in their return to UCLA.

"We got a big a big applause from fans throughout the game. It really made it feel like family," Huth said. "Kari had a tremendous career here and you can tell they are proud of what she is doing as a coach."

The crowd acknowledged UNC assistant coach, Kari Korver, separately in the team's pregame roll call. Korver played for the Bruins from 2012 to 2017.

Game Notes

After playing only 17 minutes due to foul trouble against Air Force, Alexis Chapman played 35 minutes Friday night and scored in 15+ points for the fourth time this season.
UNC went five-of-13 from three-point range against the Bruins. Along with Chapman, Micayla Isenbart went two-of-three from behind the arc.
Kurstyn Harden contributed off the bench, scoring five points and grabbing two rebounds, both career highs.
UNC's bench outscored the Bruins', 34-22.
Alisha Davis recorded all three of the team's blocks. Davis now has 12 this season.