Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Northern Colorado
Wildcats Down Bears for Third-Straight Big Sky Win
2/5/2009 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
OGDEN, Utah -- The Weber State women's basketball team (8-14 overall; 3-6 Big Sky) rallied from an eight-point second half deficit for a 66-55 win over Northern Colorado (10-12; 4-5) on Thursday night at the Dee Events Center.
"We got key defensive plays by a lot of players tonight," said WSU head coach Carla Taylor. "You could just feel the entire time, even the first half when we got down, we had open shots and didn't make them. But we kept playing, kept plugging away, kept playing on the defensive end, kept battling. The second half we stepped up and matched Northern Colorado's physical play, which we didn't do to start the game."
Kate Kevorken's three-pointer with 5:25 left put Northern Colorado ahead 55-49, but the Wildcats scored 17 unanswered points for the 11-point win. Tonya Schnibbe jump-started the run with a bucket and a pair of free throws to get the Wildcats within two points.
Sarah Conner then added two free throws of her own to tie the game, and hit a big three-pointer from the left wing with 3:20 remaining to put the Wildcats ahead for good. The three came at the right time for the junior guard, who had struggled to 1 of 9 shooting from behind the arc up to that point.
The Wildcats continued to get stops defensively and hit 8 of 10 free throw attempts over the final 2:06 to pull away.
Schnibbe led the Wildcats with 19 points on 5 of 15 shooting from the field. She also added eight assists, four rebounds and three steals. Her play on both ends of the floor led the charge for the Wildcat run.
"I struggled in the first half, obviously you can see that," said Schnibbe. "So, I knew that I just had to come out and stay focused and calm. When I get a little too excited, I kind of get out of my game. After I got a steal and went coast-to-coast, that pumped me up. That definitely got me going and really got the team going. Little plays like that always get our team on the right page that we need to be on and it just happened to be me this time."
Caitlin Anderson continued her stellar play with 16 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. The game was her fourth-straight double-double and she has averaged 15.5 points and 16.3 rebounds over the stretch.
"I think the games that I was struggling, I was thinking too much and putting too much pressure on myself," said Anderson. "My whole focus lately has been to have fun and kick everybody's butts on the boards. Everything else just seems to fall into place when I do that."
Conner added 11 points, five rebounds and two assists for the Wildcats, while Joey O'Neill chipped in with seven points and six assists.
Kevorken led all players with 20 points as she hit 7 of 20 shots from the field. She also posted a team-high 13 rebounds and added four blocked shots. Courtney Stoermer added 12 points and seven rebounds while Whitley Cox came off the bench for the Bears to chip in with 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Wildcats will now have a week off to prepare for their next road trip, which will see stops at Eastern Washington and Portland State.
