Women's Basketball upsets No. 1 Idaho State with inspired quarterfinal performance

Tuesday, March 8

Boise, Idaho

Noon MT

University of Northern Colorado

15-15,9-11Big Sky

Idaho State University

19-11,15-5Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Idaho St.

Photo by: Brooks Nuanez

3/8/2022 2:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: By Thomas Hoffman, UNCBears.com

BOISE, Idaho – Rename Boise upset city!

Backed by a dominant performance from Kurstyn Harden and stellar defense, Northern Colorado knocked off No. 1 Idaho State, 72-54, for its first win over a top seed in Big Sky Tournament history.

Two straight threes had the Bears picking up right where they left off a day ago at Idaho Central Arena.

The Big Sky's best 3-point shooter starting it off right!@hjsimental | #GetUpGreeley🐻🏀 pic.twitter.com/YbYa8a7yL7
— UNC Bears WBB (@UNC_BearsWBB) March 8, 2022

A 7-0 run from the Bengals, however, brought them quickly back into the contest but a quick bucket from Kurstyn Harden at the end of the quarter made sure the Blue and Gold had the lead, 17-16, against the Big Sky regular-season champs.

With Simental and Harden hard at work on the offensive end of the floor, head coach Mattio's defense was busy digging in their heels on the defensive end.

Sabine Lipe's all-around performance earned the Latvian a healthy chunk of minutes in the first half. Four rebounds and a nifty pump-fake that gave her three free throws and kept the Bears in step with the Bengals.

Lipe would finish with seven points (all from the free-throw line) and a career-high 10 rebounds.

At the midway mark, neither side could separate itself. For UNC, 42 percent shooting and 13 points off turnovers had No. 1 Idaho State reeling.

Northern Colorado was nothing if not efficient in the third quarter. Allie Downing led the way with five points but it was the Blue and Gold defense that continued to give Idaho State problems all afternoon long.

ISU shot just 6-18 in the quarter, setting up 10 more minutes of basketball and a UNC lead of six, 49-43.

One minute into the fourth, Idaho State connected on a basket from three-point range, bringing the Bengals within three.

Mattio's crew responded with authority.

An 8-2 run promptly put any thought of a quick comeback to bed.

If the Bears were looking for somebody to rely on in the second half, they found it in Kurstyn Harden.

The Lufkin, Texas native poured in 15 points across the final 20 minutes en route to a game-high 23 point performance. The initial 8-2 run included a portion of the game that featured Harded scoring 12 straight points for the Bears.

.@kurstyn_harden is in beast mode! 💪#GetUpGreeley🐻🏀 pic.twitter.com/I4WrlXZUdv
— UNC Bears WBB (@UNC_BearsWBB) March 8, 2022

Northern Colorado led by as many as 19 before the final whistle and with its clutch free-throw shooting performance, put the upset victory to bed.

Stat of the Game
The Bears shot a red-hot 51 percent from the floor while its defense held Idaho State to just 32.

What They Said
Kurstyn Harden, Sabine Lipe and head coach Kristen Mattio

Game Notes

Kurstyn Harden's 23 points were the most since scoring 25 at Northern Arizona on January 31.
Sabine Lipe finished with a career-high 10 rebounds.
Northern Colorado knocked off the No.1 seed in the Big Sky Tournament for the first time in school history.
UNC improves to 12-9 in the conference tournament and 4-2 in Boise
Alexis Chapman has scored in double figures in five straight games.
Hannah Simental has hit at least two threes in 10 straight games.
UNC held its opponent under 60 points for the 15^th time this season and is now 13-2 in those games.
All of the Bears' 15 wins have come when outrebounding their opponent.

What's Ahead
Northern Colorado will await the winner of Northern Arizona and Montana. The semifinal matchup is set for 5:30 p.m. MT.

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.