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Finishing At Home
Northern Colorado will close out the 2009-10 season this weekend, hosting Montana State on Thursday and Montana on Saturday. The Bears have been eliminated from post-season contention but still can affect the seeding with wins.

Last Time Out
Northern Colorado saw a fast-paced game go to the visitors as Sacramento State rallied to score 63 points in the second-half and dash the Bears hopes of a post-season with a 93-89 victory. Senior guard Whitley Cox scored 31 points, topping the 30-point barrier for the third time this year, while freshman forward Lauren Oosdyke added 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds and junior guard Courtney Stoermer scored 10 with a game-high five steals.

First Meeting - Montana State
The change of venue mid-game did nothing for Northern Colorado against Montana State. The contest started at 7:05 in Worthington Arena, but less than five minutes later - at the first media timeout and with 15:37 on the clock - the officials noticed a drip from the ceiling onto the floor and the game was moved to Shroyer Gym where play resumed an hour and 15 minutes later. Freshman forward Lauren Oosdyke scored a career-best 24 points and tying for game honors with seven rebounds. Whitley Cox also added double figures in the scoring column with 10 points. Freshman guard Victoria Timm tied Oosdyke with seven boards. Montana State had four players in double figures in points, led by senior guard Erica Perry with 20 points. Rachel Semansky scored 15, Sarah Strand added 13 and Katie Bussey scored 12. Strand led the Bobcats with six rebounds.

First Meeting - Montana
Northern Colorado battled tough in the first half, but Montana used two big scoring runs to open the second half and defeat the Bears 65-54. Junior guard Courtney Stoermer led the team with 13 points, while junior forward Lara Merritt tallied double figures as she scored the first six points of the second half for the Bears and ended the game with 10. Freshman forward Lauren Oosdyke led the team and tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds. Montana was led by senior forward Sarah Ena with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Kenzie De Boer came off the bench to score 11 and Jessa Linford added 10.

NC vs Montana State
The Bears are 2-6 all-time against the Bobcats with all but one meeting coming in Big Sky Conference play. Montana State has won the last two meetings, but the Bears won the previous game in Butler-Hancock, winning 88-82 in overtime a year ago. In Greeley, Northern Colorado is 1-3 against Montana State all-time.

NC vs Montana
The Bears are searching for their first-ever victory over the Lady Griz with an 0-7 record to date. NC is 0-3 against UM in Greeley, losing by an average of just over 14 points per game at home.

Scouting Montana State
With an 8-6 Big Sky record, the Bobcats have clinched a spot in the playoffs but are still working on a seed for the championship. Overall, Montana State is 15-12 and winners of six of its last seven games. Three players are averaging double figures in points, led by sophomore Katie Bussey with 14.1, while Sarah Strand averages 13.1 and senior Erica Perry is right behind her with 13.0 a game. Strand also leads the team wit 7.3 rebounds per game. The Bobcats lead the league in field goal percentage (.430) and blocked shots (5.4).

Scouting Montana
The Lady Griz also sport an 8-6 mark in conference play and are working on seeding for the Big Sky Tournament. Montana is 13-13 on the year and have lost three of its last four games, including a 77-72 setback to Montana State last weekend. Sarah Ena leads the team with 12.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while Lauren Beck is second in both categories with 12.3 points and 5.0 rebounds a game. Montana leads the Big Sky in scoring defense (62.0), free throw percentage (.746), field goal percentage defense (.378), three-point field goal percentage defense (.296) and rebounding margin (+2.9).

On This Date
On March 4, the Bears have an all-time record of 3-6 and are 0-1 at home. The last regular season game played on the 4th came in 2000, while in 2003 and 2005 the Bears played tournament games. On March 6, the team is 2-1 all-time with a 1-1 mark at home. The last game was in 2008, a 85-67 win over Northern Arizona in Butler-Hancock.

50 Cent
Senior guard Whitley Cox is now just 50 points shy of tying the Northern Colorado single-season record for points scored. She has 505 points, while Missy Borell holds the record with 555 points from the 2002-03 season. Cox is currently fifth on the single season list.

1. Missy Borell, 2002-03 555
2. Shelley Lindstrom, 1991-92 541
3. Missy Borell, 2001-02 535
4. Tracie Morris, 1989-90 531
5. Whitley Cox, 2009-10 505
6. Trish Williamson, 1990-91 504

That's A Lot Of Points
On Saturday, Northern Colorado and Sacramento State combined to score 182 points (89-93), the most in a Northern Colorado Division I game in school history and the most since Nov. 30, 2001 when the Bears defeated Metro State 104-84.

Block Party
Juniors Courtney Stoermer and Brittany Fernandez both now have 20 or more blocked shots on the season, marking the first time since 2002-03 two players at Northern Colorado have tallied more than 20. Stoermer leads the way with 22, while Fernandez has 20 and both rank in the top 10 in the Big Sky Conference in blocked shots per game. In 2002-03, Jill Fadenrecht blocked a school record 79 shots, while Missy Borell was second with 44. The last team to have one player with more than 20 blocks was 2006-07 when Nicole Ford stuffed 24.

Stoermer Scores 1,000
With a three-pointer at the 5:50 mark of the first half at Portland State, junior guard Courtney Stoermer became the 15th player in Northern Colorado history and just the fifth junior to score 1,000 career points. Stoermer is now 13th all-time with 1,018 points, moving her past both Danielle Hagen (2003-08), 1,008 and Heather Barbour (2003-07) with 1,015. Her 1,018 points also put her fifth on the Big Sky active scoring list and second on the NC Division I list.

Free For All
Freshman forward Lauren Oosdyke is two free throws shy of becoming just the eighth player in Northern Colorado history to make 100 free throws in a season. Oosdyke has 98 free throws this year, needing just seven to break the school's Division I record of 104 by Heather Barbour (2006-07). Junior guard Courtney Stoermer is also closing in on triple digit points from the charity stripe as she has 92.

Lucky Number 13
The win at Portland State marked the 13th of the season for Northern Colorado, surpassing the win total from last year's 12-18 team. One more victory will tie the 2007-08 team for most wins in Jaime White's career as a Bear.

Bring Out The Brooms
The win at Portland State gave the Bears their second season sweep over a Big Sky opponent as the team also won both games against Northern Arizona. It was the first time in Big Sky history the Bears swept the Vikings and the second time they won both against the Lumberjacks.

1000-500-250
Senior guard Whitley Cox is just the second player in school history to have recorded 1000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists in her career. Danielle Hagen (2003-08) was the first player to hit all three milestones, ending her career with 1,008 points, 792 rebounds and 265 assists. Cox currently has 1,553 points, 515 rebounds and 253 assists. Junior guard Courtney Stoermer is also on pace to hit all three as she currently has 1,018 points, 356 rebounds and 293 assists.

Top 25
Senior guard Whitley Cox now ranks 22nd in the nation with 18.7 points per game as the Big Sky Conference has three ranked among the top 25. Sacramento State senior guard Charday Hunt is 17th this week with 19.0 per game, while NAU freshman Amy Patton is 19th with 18.9 a contest.

She's Everywhere
Junior guard Courtney Stoermer already ranks in the top five in four different statistical career categories at Northern Colorado. Stoermer is now third in steals (166), fourth in assists (293) and free throws made (268) and fifth in three-pointers with 130.

Crashing The Boards
Northern Colorado has done a great job this season of getting to the glass and has now out-rebounded its last six opponents. Against Sacramento State, it was the 13th time this year the Bears had 40 or more rebounds in a game and the team is 9-4 in that instance.

Chart Hoppers
Both sophomore forward Kaisha Brown and junior guard Courtney Stoermer rank on the single-season charts for three-pointers made with 50 and 49, respectively. Brown is tied for 12th and became the 10th Bears to make 50 triples in a year, while Stoermer is tied for 14th with 49.

Triple Threat
Junior guard Courtney Stoermer recorded the first triple double in Division I school history at Sacramento State with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. It was the first time this season Stoermer recorded double figures in rebounds and the 10 assists is a season high. Her triple double is also the only one in the Big sky this season and one of 24 in NCAA Division I play.

Free Throw Facts
In the final five minutes of a game, with the margin on the scoreboard 10 or less, the Bears are shooting .730 (81-for-111) and went a perfect 9-for-9 against Sacramento State on Saturday.

Lucky Number Six
For the second time this year, sophomore forward Kaisha Brown tied the Division I school record for three-pointers in a game with six against Portland State. Brown scored a career-best 21 points in the win, hitting 6-of-7 from beyond the arc. It was the 10th time since the transition a Bear has made six triples in a contest.

Back To Back
Senior guard Whitley Cox became just the third player in Northern Colorado history to earn Big Sky Player of the Week honors and she did so in back-to-back weeks after leading the Bears to a 3-1 mark over a four-game home stretch. Cox is the first player since Mandy Morales from Montana earned back-to-back nods in Jan/Feb of last season.

Making The Free Ones
In the win over Colorado State, the Bears shot .938 from the free throw line, making 15 of 16. The percentage ties the school Division I record from Dec. 2, 2005 at Nevada with a minimum of 10 made.

Stop Thief!
Junior guard Courtney Stoermer leads the team with 55 steals on the season and is now third all-time with 166. She is also just 22 shy of the school record of 189 steals held by Renee L'Heureux (1981-85).

Helping Hand
Junior guard Courtney Stoermer and senior guard Whitley Cox now both rank in the top 10 in career assists at Northern Colorado.

Going Streaking
Northern Colorado has now made at least one three-pointer in 265 consecutive games, dating all the way back to Jan. 20, 2001 at South Dakota State.

Stellar In The Classroom
Six current Bears were named to the Big Sky All-Academic Team last season in Kaisha Brown, Lizzie Cooper, Courtney Kranz, Cassie Lambrecht, Lara Merritt and Courtney Stoermer.

Bears Add Four Freshmen
Three Colorado and one Minnesota high school standouts signed National Letters of Intent to play women's basketball at the University of Northern Colorado, announced Head Coach Jaime White. Molly Duehn, Kirsten Hess, Kim Lockridge and D'Shara Strange make up the signing class for the Bears and will enroll in classes in the fall of 2010.