Feb. 23, 2008

Final Stats

CHENEY, Wash. - The University of Northern Colorado women's basketball team got back on the winning track with a 71-56 victory over Eastern Washington Saturday afternoon. The Bears snap a three-game skid to improve to 12-13 on the year and even their Big Sky record at 6-6. Eastern Washington moves to 4-22 overall and 1-12 in league play.

A near triple-double by freshman guard Courtney Stoermer paced the Bears. She led the team with 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists with the first two being career-highs. Senior center Danielle Hagen just missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds, while junior Jamie Schroeder tallied 16 points and freshman guard Kate Kevorken notched 13 points.

"Assists are huge in motion offense," said Head Coach Jaime White, whose team tallied 15 assists with just 13 turnovers on the afternoon. "With the way Danielle and Jamie have been playing lately, the guards know that's the pass to make. Before the game, I said we need to get the ball inside, which ended up opening up the outside. In the first half, the team did a great job of driving and kicking out."

Eastern Washington was led by Tatjana Sparavalo with 18 points, while Sydney Benson notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Nicole Scott also scored 13, while Jessica Huntington led with six assists and three steals and Scott had five blocked shots.

Eastern Washington scored the first eight points of the game, but Northern Colorado answered with a 9-0 run of its own for the 9-8 lead. The Bears shot .436 from the field for the game and .318 from beyond the arc (7-22). They also shot .762 from the free throw line. The Eagles shot .333 for the game and .261 (6-23) from the three-point line and .833 from the charity stripe. The Bears outrebounded the Eagles, 40-35 and had two more steals, 6-4.

Stoermer and Kevorken combined for 21 of the team's 35 points in the first half, as both knocked down three triples. Stoermer also had a team-high five rebounds and three assists in the first 20 minutes.

"The league knows Courtney is one of the best guards in the conference and she has had a lot of pressure on her every game," said White. "She took care of the ball today and nearly had a triple-double. She played really good."

Northern Colorado plays its final four games of the regular-season in the friendly confines of Butler-Hancock. The Bears host Montana on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. and Montana State on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.