Bears Narrowly Edged in Road Game Against Vandals

Thursday, February 27

Moscow, Idaho

7 pm

University of Northern Colorado

11-15,7-10Big Sky

Idaho

17-9,12-5Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Idaho

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

2/27/2020 9:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Northern Colorado fell to Idaho on Thursday night

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

MOSCOW, ID – It was a hard-fought game Thursday night, as Northern Colorado women's basketball were edged by Idaho, 70-65.

"I thought we battled," head coach Jenny Huth said. "We played an improved possessions game in the half court. We hit more of our routine shots and played more poised when things were not going perfect! We struggled at key times to keep them off the offensive glass and sent them to the foul line way too much. That's a continued area of growth. I think when we get production offensively from our starter, we are so much better. I thought we played more like ourselves tonight."

UNC played well against the Vandals, shooting over 50 percent in three-of-the-four quarters, finishing with a 48.1 percent for the game. The Bears were also efficient on three-point shots, going 4-of-10.

Alisha Davis scored a game-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while recording her fifth double-double with 10 rebounds. Micayla Isenbart added 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and Alexis Chapman finished with 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Isenbart was 2-of-3 from behind the arc.

Idaho shot 36.1 percent from the floor and 38.5 percent from three-point range.

The game was tight in the first quarter, as UNC kept close to the Vandals. The Bears shot 35.7 percent while the Vandals recorded a 35.3 percentage. Isenbart started strong with seven points in the quarter to drive the offense. Idaho had a 15-12 lead after the first 10 minutes.

UNC's shooting improved in the second quarter as the team shot 53.8 percent from the floor. Isenbart continued to score well with six points and Ali Meyer added five of her own. The Vandals again had a 35.3 percent mark from the floor. The teams tied scoring 15 points each and UNC went into the half still trailing by just three.

The Bears raced ahead of Idaho in the third quarter, shooting 53.3 percent on the way to scoring 19 points. Chapman came to live with seven points on 3-of-6 shooting and Davis added six points to spark the rally. On the defensive end, UNC made it difficult on the Vandals and held them to a 26.7 percent mark from the floor.

Idaho found their shooting in the fourth with a 50 percent performance. The Bears matched them with 50 percent shooting from the floor. The Vandals poured in 26 points to leap over UNC and hold the lead until the end of the game. Davis made valiant effort in the final period, scoring nine points and Chapman scored another six.

Idaho defeated Northern Colorado, 70-65 to drop the Bears' conference record to 7-10 and 11-15 overall.

Game Notes

Alexis Chapman had her 18^th game scoring in double figures. Alisha Davis recorded her 16^th.
Davis had four blocks in the game and now has 57 this season. She is now sixth on the all-time list and third in the Division I era.
Davis is also approaching the freshman rebounding record, with 178 currently. She is 24 rebounds away from D'shara Strange's record 202 rebounds in 2010-11 as a freshman.
Ali Meyer made her first career three-pointer in 57 career games Thursday night.
UNC had 14 turnovers in the game, after averaging 17.9 turnovers per game this season.

What's Ahead?
Northern Colorado will play its final road game of the regular season on Saturday against Eastern Washington, with tip-off at 1 p.m.(MST).