BOX SCORE: San Jose State-Northern Colorado
POST-GAME QUOTES: Coach White

GREELEY, Colo. - Topping 100 points for the first time since the 2003-04 season, the University of Northern Colorado women's basketball team built a big lead early en route to a 101-63 victory over San Jose State in the home opener .

Trailing 4-2, the Bears (2-0) went on a 16-0 run beginning at 16:26 with a three-pointer by senior forward Jamie Schroeder and ending with her layup at the 11:16 mark for the 18-4 lead. Schroeder had seven points during the stretch, while sophomore guard Kate Kevorken scored four, freshman Kaisha Brown scored three and junior guard Whitley Cox added two. The Spartans were never able to recover and trailed by as many as 43 with 4:48 left in the game, 94-51.

Both teams were plagued by fouls as there were 61 whistles in the game, leading to 30 free throw makes by the Bears and 24 by the Spartans. The Bears hit 13-of-15 in the first half, but fell slightly connecting on just 17-of-28 in the second half for a .698 percentage for the game.

"I'm kind of a stickler for the defense," said Head Coach Jaime White. "Our goal this whole year is to keep teams under 50 points, so I'm not extremely pleased but I am with the first half. In the second half we kind of let a couple of things go. There was a lot of fouling, but with a team that plays such up-tempo there's going to be some fouling."

Cox led the Bears in scoring with 20 points, hitting 10-of-12 from the charity stripe. She was also second on the team with seven rebounds and tied for team honors with five assists with sophomore guard Courtney Stoermer. Kevorken came off the bench to score 17 points, knocking down three three-pointers for the second straight game. Sophomore guard Paige Ricker also scored in double figures, adding a career-best 11 points. Freshman center Courtney Kranz grabbed eight rebounds in just eight minutes of play and was perfect from the field, hitting her only shot from the field and both free throw attempts.

"It's nice to have Cassie Lambrecht come off the bench because she has that speed and a real great knack for finding the open person," said White. "Whitley looked like herself again tonight so that's huge for us. We really need Whitley; when she made that first shot when she stopped and popped in the middle of the key I knew we were going to be okay."

San Jose State was led by Ashley Brown with 13 points and Myesha Broaden with five rebounds. Kelly Blair had two of the team's three assists, while Brown also had two of the team's three steals.

The Bears tallied a positive assist-to-turnover ratio with 20 assists and 16 turnovers and they out-rebounded the Spartans 41-30. They also continued to shoot well from beyond the arc, making nine triples and shooting .450. NC held San Jose to just one three-pointer on nine attempts (.111).

Northern Colorado now hits the road for five straight games away from Butler-Hancock. They play at Pacific on Saturday evening at 4:00 p.m. Pacific/5:00 p.m. Mountain. The game will be broadcast on 1310 KFKA after the conclusion of the Bears' football game at Portland State.