Gorzeman shines, UNC can't run down Thunderbirds

Monday, February 14

Cedar City, Utah

6:30 p.m. MT

University of Northern Colorado

9-13,5-9Big Sky

Southern Utah

15-9,11-4Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Southern Utah

2/14/2022 8:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: By Thomas Hoffman, UNCBears.com

CEDAR CITY, Utah – Jayce Gorzeman continues to play inspired basketball coming off the bench, finishing with a team-high 11 points on Monday but high-percentage shooting from Southern Utah gave the Thunderbirds the victory, 77-53.

The first quarter was fast and furious in Cedar City. Micayla Isenbart broke the scoring open with a three and neither team looked back.

Hannah Simental, Gorzeman and Kurstyn Harden all added contributions in the opening quarter. However, an equally stout shooting performance from Southern Utah gave the home side the lead after the first 10 minutes.

SUU led by as many as 11 in the second but a resilient bunch of Bears clawed their way back into the contest. A 6-0 run that saw Alexis Chapman, Simental and Isenbart all attack the basketball had UNC back in business.

Gorzeman continued to bring the energy in the second half. In fact, after scoring in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time this season, the Las Cruces, New Mexico native led the team with 11 points and pulled down six rebounds.

Chapman also found a small spark off the bench, finishing the evening with eight points on 3-4 shooting.

An 8-2 run from the Thunderbirds pushed the lead back over 10 points, though, and UNC couldn't quite find the rhythm to get back in it.

When all was said and done, 46 percent shooting and 34 points in the paint gave SUU the victory, 77-53.

Stat of the Game
Senior forward Jayce Gorzeman has now scored in double-figures in three straight games, the longest such streak of her career.

Game Notes

Jayce Gorzeman (11 points) and Hannah Simental (10 points) were the two Bears to finish in double figures.
Sophomore Sydney Stensgard finished with seven points, the second-most in her career as a Bear.
Simental's five steals were a career-high
UNC's bench outscored its opponent for the 13^th game this season.

What's Ahead
Northern Colorado heads back home for a matchup with Idaho State on Thursday, February 17. Tickets can be purchased 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.