University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Thursday, January 16
Sacramento, Calif.
1 pm
University of Northern Colorado
73
at
63
Sacramento State
Photo by: Dean Popejoy
Second Quarter Surge Drives Bears Past Hornets
1/16/2020 3:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Northern Colorado defeated Sacramento St. on the road Thursday afternoon
SACRAMENTO, Calif.- Northern Colorado women's basketball handled its business on Thursday afternoon, defeating Sacramento State, 73-63. After trailing following the first quarter, UNC used a 15-0 run to pull ahead of the Hornets in the second quarter to take the lead for good.
"Overall, we wanted to limit three-point attempts and re-establish ourselves rebounding," head coach Jenny Huth said. "We kept that at 10 under their average attempts.
We practiced breaking the press all week and still struggled on the turnover margin. We will continue to address that and grow."
UNC finished with a 40.6 percent shooting percentage from the floor and 29.2 percent on three-pointers. Jasmine Gayles and Alexis Chapman each scored 16 points. Gayles matched her career-high in points on 6-of-12 shooting and 3-of-6 from three. Chapman was 5-of-11 form the floor and 4-of-8 from behind the arc.
The Bears were strong on the glass, out-rebounding Sac St., 50-34. UNC pulled down 18 offensive rebounds and scored 15, second-chance points. Ali Meyer recorded her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds, including seven on offense. The Bears held the Hornets to a 37.7 shooting percentage in the game.
"Ali was really focused and recognized when she had mismatches inside," Huth said. "Micayla Isenbart did a great job finding and delivering to our bigs. We struggled from three to start the game despite good looks. We encouraged them to keep shooting and to find the paint with our post play. We found our inside groove and then our outside one when we want on our 15-0 run."
The first quarter was a struggle for UNC, as the team shot 22.2 percent from the floor and had eight turnovers. Sac St. took advantage, shooting 50 percent in the quarter including 3-of-6 from three-point range. The Hornets had an 20-12 lead after one.
In the second quarter, the Bears offense exploded with a 15-0 run to turn a 10-point deficit into a five-point lead. UNC extended the run to 21-2 over a six minute stretch in the second quarter. Jasmine Gayles made two-three pointers during the run to power the UNC offense. The Bears shot 53.3 percent in the quarter and 3-of-4 from behind the arc. UNC's defense also clamped down on the Hornets, limiting them to a 23.1-percent shooting percentage. The Bears carried a 37-26 lead into halftime after erasing an eight-point, first quarter deficit. Gayles scored eight points in the quarter and Alisha Davis added eight of her own.
Sac St.'s offense picked up in the third quarter, shooting 52.9 percent and scoring 23 points. UNC's offense stayed effective, scoring 21 points on 46.7 percent shooting. Chapman scored six points in the quarter to match the Hornets output.
Moving to the fourth quarter, the Bears had a 58-49 lead over Sac St. UNC's defense controlled the final period and limited the Hornets to a 23.5 shooting percentage from, along with 0-of-7 from three-point range. UNC had a 43.8 shooting percentage and outscored Sac St. by one in the period, 15-14.
Northern Colorado earned its fifth road win of the season and improved to 3-2 in the Big Sky and 7-7 overall. Sac St. fell to 1-5 in conference and 3-12 overall.
Game Notes
What's Ahead?
Northern Colorado will be in Flagstaff on Saturday to play Northern Arizona, with tip-off at 1 p.m.(MST).
"Overall, we wanted to limit three-point attempts and re-establish ourselves rebounding," head coach Jenny Huth said. "We kept that at 10 under their average attempts.
We practiced breaking the press all week and still struggled on the turnover margin. We will continue to address that and grow."
UNC finished with a 40.6 percent shooting percentage from the floor and 29.2 percent on three-pointers. Jasmine Gayles and Alexis Chapman each scored 16 points. Gayles matched her career-high in points on 6-of-12 shooting and 3-of-6 from three. Chapman was 5-of-11 form the floor and 4-of-8 from behind the arc.
The Bears were strong on the glass, out-rebounding Sac St., 50-34. UNC pulled down 18 offensive rebounds and scored 15, second-chance points. Ali Meyer recorded her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds, including seven on offense. The Bears held the Hornets to a 37.7 shooting percentage in the game.
"Ali was really focused and recognized when she had mismatches inside," Huth said. "Micayla Isenbart did a great job finding and delivering to our bigs. We struggled from three to start the game despite good looks. We encouraged them to keep shooting and to find the paint with our post play. We found our inside groove and then our outside one when we want on our 15-0 run."
The first quarter was a struggle for UNC, as the team shot 22.2 percent from the floor and had eight turnovers. Sac St. took advantage, shooting 50 percent in the quarter including 3-of-6 from three-point range. The Hornets had an 20-12 lead after one.
In the second quarter, the Bears offense exploded with a 15-0 run to turn a 10-point deficit into a five-point lead. UNC extended the run to 21-2 over a six minute stretch in the second quarter. Jasmine Gayles made two-three pointers during the run to power the UNC offense. The Bears shot 53.3 percent in the quarter and 3-of-4 from behind the arc. UNC's defense also clamped down on the Hornets, limiting them to a 23.1-percent shooting percentage. The Bears carried a 37-26 lead into halftime after erasing an eight-point, first quarter deficit. Gayles scored eight points in the quarter and Alisha Davis added eight of her own.
Sac St.'s offense picked up in the third quarter, shooting 52.9 percent and scoring 23 points. UNC's offense stayed effective, scoring 21 points on 46.7 percent shooting. Chapman scored six points in the quarter to match the Hornets output.
Moving to the fourth quarter, the Bears had a 58-49 lead over Sac St. UNC's defense controlled the final period and limited the Hornets to a 23.5 shooting percentage from, along with 0-of-7 from three-point range. UNC had a 43.8 shooting percentage and outscored Sac St. by one in the period, 15-14.
Northern Colorado earned its fifth road win of the season and improved to 3-2 in the Big Sky and 7-7 overall. Sac St. fell to 1-5 in conference and 3-12 overall.
Game Notes
- Alisha Davis matched her career-high with 14 points, going 6-of-10 from the floor. Davis added eight rebounds, along with two blocks to give her 30 for the season. Davis led all players in plus/minus with a +18 stat Thursday afternoon.
- Ali Meyer recorded her first double-double of the season and her fifth overall at UNC. She also matched her career-high with three steals.
- Micayla Isenbart tripled her career-high in assists with nine on Thursday. Isenbart also had six rebounds and two points.
- The Bears outscored Sac St. in the paint 32-30.
- Despite committing three more turnovers, UNC had a 23-21 advantage in points off turnover against the Hornets.
- Alexis Chapman now has scored in double figures for seven consecutive games.
- The Bears bench outscored Sac St.'s 18-8, with Meyer's 12 points leading the way.
What's Ahead?
Northern Colorado will be in Flagstaff on Saturday to play Northern Arizona, with tip-off at 1 p.m.(MST).
Players Mentioned
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