Gayles career-high paces Bears past Lumberjacks

Thursday, January 28

Greeley, Colo.

6:30 p.m. MT

University of Northern Colorado

7-9,6-5Big Sky

Northern Arizona University

6-9,4-7Big Sky

Northern Ariz.

Northern Colo.

Photo by: Thomas Hoffman

1/28/2021 9:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

UNC women's basketball extended its win streak to three-game Thursday night

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado women's basketball extended its win streak to three leading wire-to-wire against Northern Arizona in a 59-54 game. The Bears improve to 7-9 on the year and 6-5 in Big Sky play.

UNC scored 17 of the first 19 points of the game and led by as much as 17 in the first quarter of play.

1Q | @alishaaa_5 ‼️#BearsStrong #BigSkyWBB pic.twitter.com/GCiUD4DPUe
— UNC Bears WBB (@UNC_BearsWBB) January 29, 2021

The duo of Jasmine Gayles and Alisha Davis did damage early and often for the Bears scoring eight and seven points, respectively in the quarter. Gayles scored a career-best 22 points on the night to lead the team. The walking double-double that is Davis added 21 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

1Q | @jazgayles AGAIN‼️#BearsStrong #BigSkyWBB pic.twitter.com/vh7VigRMJy
— UNC Bears WBB (@UNC_BearsWBB) January 29, 2021

While Northern Colorado shot 69.2% from the field in the first quarter they held NAU to 30.8% and forced six turnovers leading to 10 points.

The Bears held a 35-21 lead at the break, but NAU came out in the second half determined to make it a game.

3Q | @micaylann with a 3⃣‼️#BearsStrong #BigSkyWBB pic.twitter.com/EHqnMr2VFv
— UNC Bears WBB (@UNC_BearsWBB) January 29, 2021

Going into the fourth quarter Northern Arizona trimmed the UNC lead to nine points. They proceeded to get within one point of the Bears with a 13-0 run in the final minutes of the game.

Micayla Isenbart had a key steal with the tip of the inbounds pass in the final seconds with UNC up three that sent Gayles to the line to ice the game away.

4Q | @jazgayles with a big free throw for the Bears😤#BearsStrong #BigSkyWBB pic.twitter.com/aN6xA2Uxa3
— UNC Bears WBB (@UNC_BearsWBB) January 29, 2021

What They Said

Stat of the Game
Ball movement was key for the Bears to be successful on offense. They had 13 assists on 21 made baskets.

Game Notes
- Jasmine Gayles used her whole scoring arsenal on the way to her 22 points. She was 6-of-14 from the field including four made threes. She also connected on six of her nine free throw attempts.
- Alisha Davis matched her season-high with 14 rebounds. She recorded her ninth double-double of the season and 16th of her career. Davis made just her second three-pointer of her career Thursday night.
- Northern Colorado dished out their second-most assists of the season with 13. The Bears had a season-high 16 in their previous game against Eastern Washington.
- UNC tied for its second-most steals on the season with nine. The Bears had 11 against Abilene Christian and nine vs EWU and Montana.
- The Bears led for 39:33 of the game.
- Half of Northern Colorado's games have been decided by 10 points or less this season. The Bears are now 5-3 in those contests.

What's Ahead
The Bears now look to complete the sweep of Northern Arizona on the road Saturday. The two teams will travel to Flagstaff tomorrow before facing each other again at noon on Saturday.

To stay up to date on all things UNC Women's basketball, visit UNCBears.com, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the new UNC Athletics app by clicking here.