Harden matches career-high, Bears unable to catch Dons

Sunday, November 21

San Francisco, CA

3 p.m. MT

University of Northern Colorado

1-3,0-0Big Sky

University of San Francisco

3-1,0-0WCC

Northern Colo.

San Francisco

11/21/2021 4:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: By Thomas Hoffman, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Kurstyn Harden matched her career-high but it wasn't enough to topple San Francisco as the Dons took the victory, 70-59, on Sunday afternoon.

Both Northern Colorado and San Francisco started the game out hot.

Hannah Simental, who's scored in double figures in each of the previous three games this season, started the opening quarter a perfect 2-2 from the field, including one from three-point range.

Fresh off a perfect shooting night against UT Rio Grande Valley, Callie Boyles connected on her first shot from long-range. Along with another three-ball from Sabine Lipe, the Bears and Dons were knotted at 20 after the first 10 minutes.

While UNC's offense cooled a bit in the second quarter, timely plays kept Northern Colorado within arm's reach.

Jaiden Galloway's second steal of the game turned defense into offense as Micayla Isenbart splashed one from downtown seconds later.

Kurstyn Harden, Zoe Campbell and Alexis Chapman each added vital efforts in the first half as well.

Following Lipe's second three of the day, the Bears drew within seven, 41-34, at the midway point.

Both offenses had trouble finding the bottom on the basket in the third quarter.

A pair of aggressive drives to the bucket gave Chapman four points in the quarter and kept the Blue and Gold in the game.

Meanwhile, Kurstyn Harden was quickly cooking up her best performance in the low block.

The Lufkin, Texas native matched her career-high with 11 points and pulled down four rebounds.

In the end, it was San Francisco who was just a little hotter from the field than Northern Colorado, walking away with the victory, 70-59.

Stat of the Game
Northern Colorado outrebounded San Francisco, 34-29. UNC has outrebounded all four of its opponents this season.

What they Said
Head Coach, Kristen Mattio
"I really liked the pace and flow of our game tonight. San Francisco is a solid team and this non-conference game will continue to prepare us for Big Sky conference play. We will need to focus on consistency of valuing the ball collectively as a team. We are getting better every time we step foot on the floor together and that is encouraging."

Game Notes

Kurstyn Harden matched her career-high with 11 points.
Sabine Lipe was a perfect 2-2 from three-point range. Her two threes were a season-high
Alexis Chapman, Callie Boyles and Hannah Simental all ended with nine points.
Northern Colorado was a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line.
UNC's bench outscored its opponent for the second straight game.

What's Ahead
Northern Colorado returns home on November 26 against Samford. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. MT and fans can find tickets at UNCBears.com/tickets.

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.