@UNCBearsWBB opens WNIT at Wyoming Thursday

Calendar

Nov 3

5 p.m. MT

Women's Basketball

vs Northern New Mexico College

Nov 8

2 p.m. MT

Women's Basketball

vs Lamar

Nov 11

6 p.m. MT

Women's Basketball

vs Bethany College (Kan.)

Nov 14

6 p.m. MT

Women's Basketball

vs Denver

Nov 21

TBD

Women's Basketball

vs Campbell University

Nov 22

TBD

Women's Basketball

at DePaul University

Nov 25

7 p.m. | 6 p.m. MST

Women's Basketball

at Arizona

Nov 28

6 p.m. MT

Women's Basketball

vs Chadron State

Dec 3

6 p.m. MT

Women's Basketball

vs Kansas City

It's win or go home time for Northern Colorado women's basketball. The Bears will travel north to Wyoming to face the Cowgirls on Thursday night in round one of the WNIT. UNC and UW will tip-off at 6:30 pm inside the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie.

Opening Tip
• Both Northern Colorado and Wyoming earned at-large spots into the WNIT.
• This is the team's fourth time competing in the WNIT, last happening in 2015.
• UNC's last game came over a week ago when they fell in the Big Sky semifinals to Eastern Washington.
• Senior guard Savannah Smith earned Big Sky All-Tournament team honors.
• Wyoming made it to the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament, falling to Boise State.
• The Cowgirls finished third in the Mountain West behind Boise State and New Mexico State.
•This is the first time UNC and Wyoming have met in exactly six years.

Last Time Out
Northern Colorado jumped out to an early lead against Eastern Washington, but the Eagles defense stepped up and shut down UNC to earn the comeback win. The Bears took a lead with seven seconds left before EWU went ahead with 2.3 seconds left to win it 59-57.

Scouting the Cowgirls
Wyoming had a strong 2018-19 season going 22-8 overall and finishing in third in the Mountain West with a 13-5 record. The Cowgirls just missed out on an NCAA berth falling to Boise State in the MWC Title Game 68-51.

UW has three All-Mountain West selections on their team in Bailee Cotton, Marta Gomez and Karla Erjavec. Cotton, was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year, averaging 8.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.9 blocks. Of her team-leading 257 rebounds, 182 of them have come on the defensive end. Cotton is the team's second leading scorer with 11.2 points per game trailing only Gomez and her 16.2.

The Bears and Cowgirls share four common opponents this year in Montana State, Denver, Idaho and Colorado State.

History against Wyoming
Northern Colorado and Wyoming competed against each other twice a year from 1974-75 through 1978-79. In that time, UW held a slight lead in the series at 6-5, only playing once in 1975. Wyoming owns a nine-game and seven-game win streak in the series to lead it 17-7. Since UNC started the transition to become a DI program the teams have played five times. The most recent meeting came in 2013 when the Bears went to Laramie and won 71-63 to open the WNIT.

Against the Mountain West
UNC has played against 10 of the 11 Mountain West schools, just missing Fresno State. The program has competed in 128 games against MWC schools, mostly vs Colorado State, Air Force and Wyoming. Overall, UNC is 52-76 against the conference including 1-1 this season.

Bears in the WNIT
This will be the fourth time Northern Colorado has competed in the WNIT, going along with appearing in 2012, 2013 and 2015. The team is 3-3 all-time in the WNIT, including advancing to the third round in 2015.

On This Date
Northern Colorado has played on March 21 only one other time, coincidentally also at Wyoming. That game came in 2013 in the first round of the WNIT when the Bears won 71-63.

What's Ahead?
With a win, UNC's season continues in round two of the WNIT. The Bears would face the winner of Lamar-South Alabama, who play on Friday night. The second round game would be played anywhere from March 23-26.

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