GREELEY, Colo.—The Bears of Northern Colorado came out firing on Saturday afternoon. UNC hit 10 first half three-point field goals, getting out to a 23-point lead. The hole became too deep to recover from for the Vandals as they fell, 70-52, inside the Bank of Colorado Arena.
Northern Colorado (10-8, 4-3) began the day on a 6-0 run, with consecutive three's from Stephanie Lee and Savannah Scott. Ali Forde got Idaho on the board hitting 1-of-2 shots from the free-throw line. She cut the Bears' lead to three at 6-3 with a short jumper with 16:43 to go in the half. The Bears could not miss over the next 5:15 min going on an 15-5 run to climb to a 20-8 lead. Stacey Barr put in Idaho's five points only delaying the Bears on their way to a 31-8 lead, leaving the Vandals gasping for air.
“I have not seen a team come out and shoot threes like that since our days of playing at Fresno State,” head coach Jon Newlee interjected. “To see so many different players hit the threes was the crazy part. We did a good job of taking away [D'Shara] Strange and [Stephanie] Lee. We wanted to make their other players take the ball on the bounce. Hats off to them. They had shots and they knocked them down.”
Idaho (8-10, 2-5) opened the second half with a pair of three's from Christina Salvatore and Barr to cut the UNC lead to 12. Missed opportunities plagued the Idaho offense for a second consecutive game. The Vandals had five straight empty possessions, while the defense held UNC off the scoreboard. UNC hit its first basket of the half 4:22 into the period. The Bears regained their 18-point halftime lead by the 12:10 mark of the period. A Kyleigh Hiser three with 10:47 to play pushed the UNC advantage to 20. The Bears largest lead of the afternoon came off a pair of Strange free-throws, putting Idaho down 25 with 2:59 to play.
“I loved the start of our second half,” Newlee commented. “We talked at half about what we wanted to do to get back in the game. We got right back in it. What has killed us on this trip has been our missed layups. We missed two when we were down 12 and they turn around and hit a three.”
The Bears fell back down to Earth in the second half, shooting just 3-of-11 from behind the arc. The Vandals outworked UNC, outrebounding the home team, 25-19, in the second half. Idaho finished leading the Bears in total rebounds, 49-39. Salvatore closed the day with her second career double-double. She scored a game-high 16 points, including 14 in the second half, and snagged 10 rebounds. Brooke Reilly led the team with 13 total rebounds, including 10 on the defensive glass, before fouling out in the final minutes.
UNC finished the afternoon with 13 three-pointers, setting a new season-high. Five different players hit shots from long range on Saturday. Kyleigh Hiser tied her season-high with four threes on the day to lead the Bears from three-point range. Strange led the Bears with 14 points, despite a 0-for-4 performance from deep.
“Crazy people can call me, but I feel like we have a championship team here,” Newlee reiterated. “I saw championship hart today. We have had to start five of our first seven conference games on the road and that is something people have to remember. It would have been easy to pack it in today and say 'it just was not our day.' I am proud of how we continued to battle today.”
Idaho returns to the Cowan Spectrum on Saturday for a rematch against Eastern Washington. The Eagles, who have lost three-straight, slipped past Idaho 71-65 in the schools' first meeting back on Jan. 10.
