Bears outlast Vikings for fourth straight win

Saturday, February 27

Portland, OR

1 p.m. MT

University of Northern Colorado

11-11,10-7Big Sky

Portland State University

9-11,6-10Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Portland St.

Photo by: Ragen Wareham

2/27/2021 5:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: By Thomas Hoffman, UNCBears.com

PORTLAND, Ore. – It may not have been pretty, but Northern Colorado Women's Basketball doesn't care.

Securing its fourth win in a row, the Bears held on, 62-60, over Portland State thanks to a couple of clutch plays down the stretch.

UNC clawed its way out to an early lead, picking up where they had left off on Thursday night. Shooting 58 percent from the floor, including 3-6 from deep, the Bears grabbed a quick 17-11 lead.

Two of those three-pointers came at the hands of Hannah Simental. Simental was 2-for-2 in the first quarter as the freshman from Pueblo finished with 13 points and three assists.

1Q | @hjsimental AGAIN!!!#BearsStrong #BigSkyWBB pic.twitter.com/ndQdau5z6C
— UNC Bears WBB (@UNC_BearsWBB) February 27, 2021

Both offenses struggled to find the bottom of the net in the second quarter. Northern Colorado was just 2-10 from the field, scored just eight points and clung to a 25-22 lead a the break.

When needing a bucket, the Bears turned to their leading scoring Alisha Davis early and often in the second half. Davis scored 11 of her 20 points in the third quarter. The sophomore finished with a game-high 20 points and 14 rebounds to collect her 12^th double-double of the season.

3Q | @alishaaa_5 with the rebound and the points😎#BearsStrong #BigSkyWBB pic.twitter.com/0klbNRCXBk
— UNC Bears WBB (@UNC_BearsWBB) February 27, 2021

Micayla Isenbart also got in on the offensive action. Isenbart mustered 14 points, including some clutch free throws in crunch time.

Jenny Huth's squad never trailed in the final quarter but found themselves tied at 59 with merely 90 seconds to go.

3Q | @alishaaa_5 with the rebound and the points😎#BearsStrong #BigSkyWBB pic.twitter.com/0klbNRCXBk
— UNC Bears WBB (@UNC_BearsWBB) February 27, 2021

Isenbart found herself at the charity stripe at the 30-second mark. The junior confidently knocked down both to give UNC the two-point lead.

Following one free throw from the Vikings, Jaiden Galloway went 1-2 from the stripe herself, keeping the Bears lead at two.

With tensions mounting in Viking Pavilion, Alisha Davis squashed any hope for PSU heroics with her second steal of the game.

What They Said
Head Coach, Jenny Huth
"We gritted this one out. We started well, started the first quarter well and closed it!"

"We improved this weekend at the free-throw line, which will be important for us. I thought our inside-out play was solid. We had some really solid defensive possessions that we needed but still not as strong on that side of the ball as game one."

"Alisha handled the inside well again which is what we have come to expect from her. We had a few key offensive boards from Micayla [Isenbart] and Alexis [Chapman] down the stretch that gave us a chance at the free-throw line."

"Overall, a great win even if it wasn't pretty."

Stat of the Game
Points in the paint – Alisha Davis dominated the painted area on Saturday afternoon, helping the Bears outscore PSU 24-14 in the category.

Game Notes

Alisha Davis notched her 12^th double-double of the season and 19^th of her career.
Hannah Simental finished 3-9 from downtown, finishing with 13 points.
UNC never led but faced six tie games on its way to victory.
Micayla Isenbart finished with a team-high +24.

What's Ahead
Northern Colorado hosts Weber State twice in the upcoming week for its final two games of the Big Sky regular season.

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.