Women's Basketball Can't Hold Lead; Fall At St. Mary's

Dec. 30, 2007

Final Stats

MORAGA, Calif. - The University of Northern Colorado women's basketball team held the 45-30 lead after the first 20 minutes, but struggled from the field in the second half, scoring just 17 points, dropping a 73-62 decision at St. Mary's in the final non-conference game of the season. The Bears move to 6-7 on the year, while the Gaels improve to 8-8.

For the second straight game, junior guard Jamie Schroeder tied her career high with 18 points to lead the Bears, while freshman guard Courtney Stoermer scored 16, senior center Danielle Hagen added 13 and freshman guard Kate Kevorken chipped in 10. Schroeder also led the Bears with nine rebounds. Stoermer and Hagen each tallied two blocks and Stoermer also led with two steals.

St. Mary's was led by Serena Benavente with 15 points, while Louella Tomlinson and Lauren Shaughnessy each added 10 and five different Gaels each had six rebounds. Tomlinson and Shaughnessy also each led with four assists and Tomlinson tallied five blocks.

Northern Colorado shot .519 from the field in the first half, including making 5-of-10 from beyond the arc to build the early lead, but shot just .259 in the second half, with just a 1-for-11 mark from three-point territory. The Bears shot well from the free throw line, hitting on .867 for the entire game (13-of-15).

St. Mary's shot .324 in the first half and .359 in the second half from the field, sinking .300 of its three-point shots for the game (9-of-30) and .700 from the charity stripe (14-of-20). NC out-rebounded the Gaels 43-41 in the game but committed 27 turnovers compared to just 13 for SMC.

Northern Colorado now turns its attention to Big Sky Conference play as the Bears open at Idaho State on Jan. 3 at 7:05 p.m. They will then play at Weber State on Jan. 5 at 2:05 before returning home to host Eastern Washington on Jan. 17.