Jan. 31, 2008

Weekly Release: at Sacramento State, at Northern Arizona

 

 

Games #20-21

Northern Colorado (10-9, 4-2 Big Sky) at Sacramento State (4-15, 2-5 Big Sky)

Thursday, Jan. 30 • Sacramento, Calif. • Hornets Nest (7,500) • 6:05 p.m. Pacific

Northern Colorado at Northern Arizona (7-13, 3-4 Big Sky)

Saturday, Feb. 1 • Flagstaff, Ariz. • Walkup Skydome (7,000) • 5:30 p.m.

 

The Series.......................... SAC....................... NAU

Overall Record..................... 1-1........................ 4-2

In Greeley........................... 1-0........................ 2-1

At Opponent......................... 0-1........................ 2-1

At Neutral Sites.................... 0-0........................ 0-0

Last Meeting..................... 2006-07.............. 2006-07

White vs.............................. 1-1........................ 0-2

 

The Coaches

Northern Colorado.... Jaime White (14-34, second year)

Sacramento State....................... Dan Mascatell (25-103, fifth year)

Northern Arizona............................ Laurie Kelly (80-61, fifth year)

   *at current school

 

Radio

   KFKA 1310 AM.............. J.J. McKay, play-by-play

 

Audio Streaming

   KFKA............................................. 1310kfka.com

 

Television

   None

 

Video Streaming

   Big Sky............................................. bigskytv.org

 

Live Stats

   Sacramento State......................... hornetsports.com

                Northern Arizona        nauathletics.com

 

A Long Stretch

Northern Colorado is halfway through the longest road trip of the year, four games straight away from Butler-Hancock as the Bears take on Sacramento State and Northern Arizona on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. NC started the trip with a split at the Montanas, defeating Montana State in Bozeman and Montana in Missoula.

 

Series History

Last season in the first-ever meetings between Sacramento State and Northern Colorado, the two teams split with each team winning on its home court. The Hornets won 54-47 in Sacramento and the Bears were victorious 70-45 in Greeley. This will be the seventh meeting between Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado. The Bears won the first four meetings between 1976 and 1979 and dropped both games last season, 79-45 in Flagstaff and 86-49 in Greeley.

 

Doubled Up

With the win at Montana State, the Bears doubled their wins in Big Sky Conference play from a year ago. Northern Colorado is 4-2 in league action after posting a 2-14 record in 2006-07.

 

Oh, What A Night

Sophomore guard Lizzie Cooper had a great game at Montana on Saturday evening. She tallied a career-high seven assists with no turnovers and played the entire 40 minutes. In fact, she played all 80 minutes over the weekend, notching nine assists and just one turnover. In conference play, she now has 17 assists with only 11 turnovers, averaging 35.3 minutes per game.

 

If It Were Over Today

If the Big Sky Conference seedings were done with the records entering the week, Northern Colorado would earn the four-seed at the conference tournament and would face Montana State in the quarterfinals. Portland State and Montana State would earn the top two spots, with Idaho State the three seed and Northern Arizona getting the final spot at the six-seed.

 

It's An Honor

For the first time since joining the Big Sky Conference, a Bear earned Player of the Week honors, as senior Danielle Hagen shared the award with Natalie Doma of Idaho State. Hagen averaged 17.5 points, 12 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, while going 61.1 percent from the field and 85.7 percent from the free-throw line in the wins over Eastern Washington and Portland State.

 

Win At Home, Split On The Road

Many coaches feel to be successful in conference play you must take care of the home games and split on the road, and that's just what Northern Colorado has done in Big Sky play. The Bears are 2-0 at home with wins over Eastern Washington and Portland State and split the other two weekends on the road. The Bears are one of four undefeated teams at home in league play and sit in fourth place with a 4-2 mark.

 

Two Of Five

Northern Colorado is the only team in the Big Sky Conference to have two players ranked in the top five in scoring against league opponents, as junior guard Jamie Schroeder ranks third with 19.7 points per game and senior center Danielle Hagen is fifth with 16.8 a contest. Both freshmen Kate Kevorken (21/10.3 per game) and Courtney Stoermer (25/9.5) also rank among the top 25 in conference play.

 

You Can Go Home

Playing, quite possibly, for the last time in her career in her home state, senior center Danielle Hagen made the most of it as she posted a career-high 29 points at Montana State and led the team with eight rebounds. She also had five assists in the first game of her career where she played the entire 40 minutes. At Montana, Hagen scored 11 points with six rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes of action.

 

Total Team Effort

With the shortened bench due to injuries, the Bears now have four different active players averaging over 10 points per game. Junior guard Jamie Schroeder leads the way with 11.8, while senior center Danielle Hagen is at 11.4 and freshmen guards Kate Kevorken and Courtney Stoermer are averaging 10.3 and 10.2, respectively. Northern Colorado currently only has eight players suiting up each game.

 

Hagen Continues To Climb

Senior center Danielle Hagen has had a great last four games, averaging 18.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists over that stretch. She has moved into eighth on the Northern Colorado career charts in both rebounding and assists. She needs 25 rebounds to take over seventh spot from Susan Rupp (1975-79) and with seven assists will pass both Lisa Gurzick (1989-93) and Renee L'Heureux (1981-85) to vault into sixth. She will also appear in 10th with two more blocked shots.

 

Down At The Break

For the first time all year, Northern Colorado came back in the second half to win a game after trailing at halftime. The Bears were down five, 35-30 at Montana State on Thursday and bounced back to outscore the Bobcats by 15, 45-30 in the second stanza to win the contest. The Bears were 0-7 when trailing at halftime prior to the game in Bozeman.

 

Shooting Lights Out

The Bears shattered their season-best field goal percentage by connecting at a .558 pace against Montana State. The previous Thursday against Eastern Washington the Bears shot .480 to establish a new season-high. In the first half against the Bobcats, the Bears shot .450, then hit at a .652 clip in the second half, which is also a season-high for one half.

 

They Can All Hit

The six players who saw the majority of action in the last two games (over 10 minutes) all hit at least one three-pointer against Montana State and Montana. Sophomore guard Chelsie Luhring and freshman guard Kate Kevorken each hit five over the two games, while junior guard Jamie Schroeder hit four, senior center Danielle Hagen nailed two and freshman guard Courtney Stoermer made one.

 

Lucky Number 18

For the third time this season, freshman guard Kate Kevorken came off the bench to score 18 points in a game. Kevorken scored 18 with four three-pointers in the loss to Montana. She also scored 18 against UMKC and Eastern Washington. Her previous scoring high in a road game was 15 against Southeast Missouri State at New Mexico State in the Aggie Thanksgiving Classic.

 

Short Bench

Northern Colorado has been hit by the injury bug and currently has just eight active players on the roster. Junior guard Whitley Cox is out for the remainder of the season with a left leg injury, while sophomore Alisa Christopherson is out for an unspecified amount of time with knee troubles, freshman Lexie Boyce is taking a personal leave of absence from the team and freshman Cayla Maneotis is redshirting her first year after having knee surgery.

 

The Century Club

Senior center Danielle Hagen played and started in her 100th career game against Portland State and has now started in 102, starting in every game played during her career with the Bears (she sat out the 2006-07 season). Hagen broke the school record for consecutive games started breaking Jill Fadenrecht's (1999-03) total of 98. The school record for most games played is 113 by Kara Ketterer (1996-00), while the record for consecutive games played stands at 112 by Shelley Lindstrom (1988-92).

 

Bears Among National Leaders

Senior center Danielle Hagen ranks 46th among Division I players in rebounds with 9.1 per game and is 87th in free throw percentage, shooting .806 from the charity stripe. Freshman guard Kate Kevorken also ranks 86th in three-point field goal percentage at .363 and is 53rd in three-pointers made per game, hitting 2.4 a game. The team ranks 12th in the same category with their 7.4 a contest and are 29th in free throw percentage, shooting .746 from the charity stripe.

 

National Girls & Women In Sports

On February 7 in the game against Weber State, the Bears will support National Girls & Women In Sports Day. A clinic will be offered the afternoon of the 6th. Stay tuned to uncbears.com for more information.

 

Non-Conference Recap

The Bears posted a 6-7 non-conference record during 2007, including their first true road victory during Jaime White's tenure as head coach with the 69-46 win at San Jose State on Dec. 28. They also won a neutral site contest against Southeast Missouri State back on Nov. 24 at New Mexico State.

 

Uncontested

In four of the first eight games this season, the Bears shot below 60 percent from the free throw line, but have turned things around, shooting at least .625 in each of the last 11 games, including a season-best .923 (12-13) at Montana on Saturday. Northern Colorado is now shooting .746 from the charity stripe this season, to rank 29th in the nation and second in the Big Sky Conference.

 

Going Streaking

Northern Colorado has now made at least one three-pointer in 196 consecutive games, dating all the way back to Jan. 20, 2001 at South Dakota State. This season, the Bears have connected on at least three triples in all 19 contests and now rank 12th in the nation with an average of 7.4 three-pointers per game.

 

I'll See Your Five And Raise You Five

With the win over San Jose State, Northern Colorado surpassed its win total from last season, posting its sixth victory of the year and the Bears now have doubled last year's total with 10 wins. In 2006-07, the Bears were 5-24, while this year they are 10-9.

 

The Long Ball

Against Montana on Saturday, Northern Colorado tied its season high with 13 three-pointers in the game. The Bears also drained 13 in the win over Columbia on Dec. 8 and have hit double figures in three-pointers four times in 19 games and have made six or more in the last eight contests.

 

Closing In

Several Bears are closing in on career or season milestones. Senior center Danielle Hagen's is now just two blocked shots from tying for 10th in school history. She currently has 51. Hagen is also just 17 rebounds shy of 700 for her career and 12 assists shy of 250. Freshman Kate Kevorken needs just five points for 200 in her young career and is 14 boards shy of 100. Sophomore Chelsie Luhring now needs 12 points for 100, while freshman Courtney Stoermer needs seven for 200.

 

Leading The Way - Team Wise

Through games played on Jan. 28, Northern Colorado ranks first in defensive rebounds (27.63) and second in free throw percentage (.746), field goal percentage defense (.377), three-point field goal percentage defense (.286), rebounding offense (38.7), rebounding margin (+1.5) and three-pointers made (7.42). In conference games only, the Bears lead in three-point field goal percentage (.434) and three-pointers made (8.17) and are second in free throw percentage (.798), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.06) and defensive rebounds (26.83).

 

Leading The Way - Individually

In the individual Big Sky Conference statistics, senior center Danielle Hagen ranks third in the league in rebounds (9.1), second in defensive rebounds (6.58) and eighth in free throw percentage (.806), offensive rebounds (2.47) and minutes played (31.42), while freshman Kate Kevorken is third in three-pointers made (2.37) and 10th in three-point field goal percentage (.363). Junior Jamie Schroeder is 12th in scoring (11.8), sixth in both free throw percentage (.810) and three-point field goal percentage (.423) and seventh in field goal percentage (.464) and freshman Courtney Stoermer is second in minutes played (35.58), seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.03), eighth in assists (3.165) and 10th in steals (1.26)

 

No One Likes To See That

Unfortunately, junior guard Whitley Cox suffered a season-ending injury to her left knee in the game against Air Force. Cox will hopefully be able to receive a medical hardship and have two full seasons of eligibility remaining. She was leading the team and ranked second in the Big Sky Conference averaging 20.1 points per game.

 

Now Eligible

The Northern Colorado women's basketball team is now eligible to compete in postseason play in 2007 after successfully making the transition to Division I. This year marks the first year the Bears are also eligible to win the Big Sky Conference Championship as well as compete in the Big Sky Tournament.

 

Chosen Ninth

The University of Northern Colorado women's basketball team was chosen by both the Big Sky Conference coaches and media to finish ninth in league play during 2007-08. The Bears received 11 votes in the coaches poll and 34 in the media poll. Montana was picked to win in both the coaches and media preseason polls, while Idaho State is picked to finish second in both polls.

 

On The Horizon

Northern Colorado continues to inch closer to a large program milestone. The win against Montana State marked the 489th win in program history and the team now needs 11 for 500. The Bears are 489-477 all-time.

 

Bears Add Three

Head Coach Jaime White announced the signing of three student-athletes in Kaisha Brown, Courtney Kranz and Lauren Oosdyke.

Kaisha Brown, 5-10, G/F, Spirit Lake, Iowa (Spirit Lake HS)

Brown averaged 14.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game as a junior with four games over 20 or more points in a game. Was a second-team All-Northwest Iowa Girls Basketball selection last year.

Courtney Kranz, 6-3, C, Mendota Heights, Minn. (Visitation HS)

Kranz is a three-time letterwinner entering her senior season with the Blazers. She is also a two-time all-conference selection and was the only unanimous pick as a junior. She helped lead her team to the conference championship last year and also is a three-time letterwinner in volleyball, where her team was three-time conference champions. She plays club basketball for the NC Heat where they placed third at the AAU Nationals last season.

Lauren Oosdyke, 5-11, F, Coto de Caza, Calif. (Santa Margarita Catholic HS)

Was a first-team All-Trinity League selection as a junior after being named a second-team all-conference selection in the Sierra League as a sophomore. She has also been named to several all-tournament teams throughout her career. Averages 10 points and eight rebounds per game to go along with a 58% field goal percentage from the field.

 

Scouting The Hornets

Sacramento State is currently tied for seventh place in the Big Sky Conference standings with a 2-5 records. Overall, the Hornets are 4-15 and have lost their last two games.

 

Atty Boyer leads the Hornets with 11.2 points per game and is the only player averaging double figures and is second with 6.2 rebounds per game. Erika Edwards paces the club with 7.2 boards a contest. Sami Field-Polisso leads with 3.16 assists per contest, while Edwards has a team-best 16 steals on the year and Boyer leads with seven blocked shots.

 

Sacramento State is averaging 58.9 points, 34.6 rebounds, 6.1 three-pointers, 12.3 assists, 20.5 turnovers, 5.4 steals and 1.2 blocked shots per game, while shooting .371 from the field, .308 from the three-point line and .717 from the free throw line. Opponents are averaging 77.3 points, 39.8 rebounds, 6.9 three-pointers, 18.1 assists, 15.1 turnovers, 8.3 steals and 2.9 blocks per game, while connecting on .453 from the floor, .345 from beyond the arc and .717 from the charity stripe.

 

The Hornets do not rank in the top four in any statistical category in Big Sky stats.

 

Scouting The Lumberjacks

Northern Arizona currently sports a Big Sky Conference record of 3-4 and is 7-13 overall after defeating Idaho State and Weber State last weekend to sit sixth in the league standings. All seven of the Lumberjacks victories have come at home this season, as they are 7-4 in Flagstaff.

 

Laura Dinkins and Ashley Ingle are the 1-2 punch for the Lumberjacks averaging 13.9 and 13.3 points per game, respectively. In rebounding, Ingle leads the way with 9.3 a game, while Dinkins is second at 8.0 a contest. Sade Cunningham, co-Player of the Week in the Big Sky this week, leads the club with 4.8 assists and Dinkins leads with 1.7 steals per game and Ingle leads the league with 3.7 blocks.

 

Northern Arizona is averaging 61.6 points, 36.0 rebounds, 4.0 three-pointers, 12.7 assists, 17.3 turnovers, 7.2 steals and 4.9 blocked shots a game this season, while shooting .373 from the field, .302 from three-point range and .670 from the free throw line. Opponents are averaging 69.7 points, 42.0 rebounds, 5.6 three-pointers, 15.7 assists, 18.2 turnovers, 8.6 steals and 3.1 blocks per game and shooting .419 from the floor, .334 from the arc and .698 from the free throw line.

 

In the conference statistics, the Lumberjacks lead the way in blocked shots (4.85) and are 26th in the nation in that category.