Bears Miss Road Sweep Against NAU

Saturday, January 18

Flagstaff, Ariz.

1 pm

University of Northern Colorado

7-8,3-3Big Sky

Northern Arizona

8-8,5-2Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Northern Ariz.

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

1/18/2020 3:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Northern Colorado fell to the Lumberjacks, 72-45

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern Colorado women's basketball faced Northern Arizona on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Lumberjacks, 72-45. NAU had an effective day shooting and limited UNC's scoring on their home court.

"We struggled offensively all the first half," head coach Jenny Huth said. "We just need to help find easier shots, so we'll look at how to do that from a strategic perspective. Defensively we gave up seven open threes in the first half. Credit to NAU; it's hard to overcome that. Offensively, there are playing well and confident and players make plays. You have to make their shots difficult for 40 minutes and some of that is mindset and some of it is strategy. We need to continue growing in those areas."

The Lumberjacks shot 45.6 percent from the floor and held the Bears to a 28.3 percent shooting mark. The free-throw line was an issue for UNC, as they went 5-of-16 from the line. Alexis Chapman was the Bears high-scorer with nine points on 3-of-12 shooting.

In the opening quarter, UNC went 4-of-11 from the floor and struggled with seven turnovers. The Bears did go 2-of-3 from three-point range, with Jasmine Gayles and Micayla Isenbart both connecting from deep. NAU was 10-of-16 from the floor and hit four, three-pointer to lead 26-10.

The Bears defense improved in the second quarter, holding the Lumberjacks to 5-of-14 shooting. UNC's shooting struggled again, going 3-of-13 and the team finished with eight points in the quarter. NAU was able to extend its lead to 41-18 at halftime.

Now in the second half, UNC found some success from the floor, racking up 16 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Alexis Chapman scored six points, going 2-of-6 from behind the arc. The Lumberjacks found their stroke from the floor and went 8-of-12 to outscore the Bears with 22 points. The Bears trailed 63-34 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, UNC's defense had its best performance of the day, holding NAU to 3-of-15 shooting and forced eight turnovers. The Bears tried to claw back into the game, but were held to 4-of-17 shooting in the quarter. UNC would outscore the Lumberjacks in the quarter, 11-9, closing the game on an 8-0 run.

Northern Arizona would go on defeat Northern Colorado, 72-45. UNC's record fell to 303 in the Big Sky and 7-8 overall. NAU improved to 5-2 in the conference and 8-8 overall.

"Next week, we need to come back, learn, grow, find our resolve, focus and play team basketball," Huth added.

Game Notes

UNC forced 19 turnovers by NAU, while having 16 of their own in the game.
The Bears were 6-fo-19 from three-point range. Alexis Chapman led the way with three made three-pointers on seven attempts.
UNC finished with 17 offensive rebounds in the game. Micayla Isenbart accounted for five offensive rebounds and finished the game with nine total.
Northern Colorado's bench outscored Northern Arizona's, 13-10

What's Ahead?
Northern Colorado will return home next week for two games, starting with Idaho on Saturday, Jan. 25, with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m.(MST). UNC will then play Eastern Washington on Monday, Jan. 27 at 12 p.m.