Northern Colorado Defeats Sacramento State 79-61 in Opening Game
GAME BOOK
BOISE, Idaho (March 9, 2020) -- In the opening game of the 2020 Big Sky Women’s Basketball Championship, No. 8 Northern Colorado defeated No. 9 Sacramento State 79-61 to advance to tomorrow’s quarterfinals.
“We had spurts of really great basketball especially early. Towards the end, we got a little bit sloppy but we did recover and happy we came away and happy to survive and advance”, said Bears Head Coach Jenny Huth.
The Bears dominated from the opening whistle as Alisha Davis led the Bears’ offensive onslaught with a game-high 32 points. Sacramento State was unable to find an answer for Davis who was 11-of-12 from the field. Davis also led the Bears in rebounds with 13 to complete her double-double.
Davis was the early focus of the Bears offense in the opening period as she accounted for 12 of Northern Colorado’s 26 points. By the close of the first period, the Bears held a double-digit lead that they would not give up.
Defensively Northern Colorado held Sacramento State to 38 percent field goal percentage. The play of Davis and Ali Meyer on the glass played a big part in limiting the Hornets’ ability to get anything going down low.
“We were really focused and locked into the matchups and locked into the scouting report and just being able to play basketball”, said Meyer, “We tried to contest the three-point and be aware of the drive and I thought we did that as a whole team.”
With today’s victory, Northern Colorado will now set its eyes on the regular-season champions Montana State. To say the Bears aren’t excited to face the Bobcats would be an understatement.
“Absolutely. Why not us?”, said Meyer about the opportunity that they have in their next game. “We have a lot of pride in who we are and just want to come in here and have a fun time and do what we know how to do and that is to play fun basketball and to play it together.”
Coach Huth knows her team is up for the challenge that now awaits them but also knows it won’t be easy.
“You have to be sharp and one of the things I love about basketball is when you play the best teams it brings out the best in you.”
Northern Colorado will tipoff against Montana State on Tuesday, March 10th at 12:00 p.m. MT in the first quarterfinal matchup at CenturyLink Arena.