Weber State University Athletics
Wildcats Open Big Sky Play Saturday
1/2/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Wildcats set to begin 2008 and Big Sky action
Weber State will open 2008 and open action in the Big Sky Conference this weekend when they return home from a four-game road trip to host Northern Colorado this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at the Dee Events Center. The Wildcats ended the non-conference season at 6-6 and have lost three straight games heading into this weekend.
?Cats struggle at Texas-San Antonio Tournament
Weber State lost both games last weekend at the UTSA Wells Fargo New Year's Classic in San Antonio, hosted by the University of Texas-San Antonio. Saturday WSU fell 79-46 to Chattanooga in the worst loss of the season. WSU shot just 35 percent from the field in that game, while the Mocs shot 52 percent and out rebounded the Wildcats by 12 rebounds.Sunday Weber State lost 73-45 to the host UTSA Roadrunners. In that game the ?Cats had season-lows of just 26 percent shooting and five assists and also committed 22 turnovers. The 26 percent shooting from the field is the worst by a WSU team in a game in over three years, since they shot 25.5 percent from December 5, 2004 in an 80-53 loss at Arizona.
Losing streak to three games
After winning five straight games, the Wildcats have now lost their last three games to drop to 6-6 on the season. In the last three games WSU has lost by 26 points at Utah, 33 vs. Chattanooga, and 28 at UTSA. This marks the first time in school history that the Wildcats have lost three straight games by 26 or more points.
In the three games the Wildcats have been out scored by 87 points. They are averaging just 45.3 points per game, while allowing their opponents to average 74.3 a game. WSU is also shooting just 30 percent from the field, while their opponents are shooting nearly 53 percent, including 52 percent from three-point land. WSU is also being out rebounded 38.7 to 29.3 in the three games.
60 is the key number
So far this season the Wildcats are 5-1 when scoring 60 or more points in a game and they are 1-5 when scoring less than 60 points, including the last three games.
Weber State is also 6-1 this year when holding their opponents under 60 points but they are 0-5 when they allow them to score more than 60 points. WSU currently ranks last in the Big Sky in scoring offense at 56.6 points per game and they are tied for first with Northern Colorado in scoring defense at 61.1 per game.
Big Sky rankings
Weber State is also second in the conference in free throw percentage at .751. They are eighth in field goal percentage but third in field goal percentage defense. WSU also ranks last in the conference in assists and eighth in rebounding.
Individually senior Sara Tuomi ranks third in the Big Sky in scoring at 16.7 and ninth in rebounding. Tuomi has led the Wildcats in scoring eight times this season, including the last four games and seven of the last eight. Tonya Schnibbe ranks second in assists and is third in assist/turnover ratio.
Wildcats host Northern Colorado Saturday
Weber State will kick off the first of 16 Big Sky Conference games this Saturday when they host Northern Colorado. The game will begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Dee Events Center and will be broadcast live on KWCR 88.1 FM with Eric Knighton calling the action. Knighton will also call every game for the rest of the season on KWCR. Live audio and live stats are also available at weberstatesports.com and the game can be watched on bigskytv.org.
Home sweet home
This week the Wildcats will return home to the Dee Events Center after a four-game road streak. This season the ?Cats are 4-0 at home, the first time they have done that since the 1994-95 season. They started that season by winning their first eight games at home in route to a 10-3 home record.
Dating back to last season Weber State has won seven straight games at the Dee Events Center. The ?Cats haven't won that many home games in a row since the 2002-03 season when they won nine straight, which is the school record.
WSU in Big Sky openers
Weber State is 16-17 all-time in the conference opener of the season. Since the Big Sky started in 1988-89, the same year Carla Taylor took over as head coach, the Wildcats are 9-10 in Big Sky openers. WSU has won four of the last six BSC openers including a 78-66 home win over Northern Colorado in the first game of the season last year.
The Wildcats are 7-3 when the first Big Sky game is at home, and have won four straight.
About Northern Colorado
Northern Colorado begins its second year in the Big Sky this week. They finished the non-conference season with a 6-7 overall record. Thursday night the Bears opened the Big Sky season with a 86-66 loss at Idaho State. Junior Jamie Schroeder led the Bears with 21 points and senior Danielle Hagen added 14 but UNC shot just 37 percent from the field. The Bears have now lost four of their last five games heading into Saturday's game with the Wildcats.
UNC now ranks third in the Big Sky in scoring defense at 62.9 points per game. They also rank second in the conference in field goal percentage defense at .386 and second in three-point field goal percentage defense (.283). UNC is also first in rebounding defense (38.0) and second in rebounding offense (39.4). They rank seventh in the league in field goal percentage (.375) and seventh in three-point percentage (.320)
This year they are led by freshman Kate Kevorken who is averaging 10.3 points per game. Hagen is averaging 9.3 points and ranks third in the Big Sky in rebounding at 8.8 per game. Earlier this season the Bears lost their top scorer junior Whitley Cox to a season-ending knee injury. Cox was averaging 20.1 points per game in the eight games she played in before the injury.
Head coach Jaime White
Northern Colorado is coached by Jamie White who is in her second season with the team after a 5-24 record last season, including two losses to Weber State. White, a native of Kanab, Utah, played college basketball at Utah Valley State and Southern Utah. She has been the head coach at Snow College and an assistant at Utah and Wyoming. Weber State head coach Carla Taylor is 3-1 in her career against the Bears.
All-time series
Weber State leads the all-time series 6-5 over Northern Colorado. The two teams played regularly from 1975-1984. Since restarting the series in 2005 the Wildcats have won three of the four games played, including the two last season, UNC's first year in the Big Sky. In games played in Ogden the Wildcats lead 3-2 all-time.
Looking ahead
After this Saturday the Wildcats will hit the road next week for conference games at Portland State January 10 and at Eastern Washington January 12. The next two home games will be January 17 against Montana State and January 19 against Montana.
