Savannah Smith hits game-winning 3-pointer in OT

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Smith hits game-winning 3-pointer in OT, UNC beats Weber State 71-69

By Adam Ide

            Savannah Smith’s game-winning three pointer with 0.4 seconds left in overtime gave the University of Northern Colorado women’s basketball team a 71-69 victory over Weber State Saturday at Bank of Colorado Arena.

            The junior guard led the Bears with 27 points and was one of three players in double figures. Senior guard Savannah Scott, who left the game in the fourth quarter with a leg injury, had 19 points. Sophomore guard Krystal Leger-Walker, who notched her first career double-double had 13 points.

            The Wildcats were led by Larryn Brooks, who had 21 points.

            The win capped off a 15-point comeback by Northern Colorado, who trailed at the end of each of the first three quarters. The deficit was the largest with six minutes left in the third quarter.

            UNC struggled in the first half, trailing 16-14 after one quarter. WSU dominated in the second quarter as well, heading into the locker room with a 39-30 lead.

            “Weber State is a hard matchup,” head coach Kamie Ethridge said after the game. “There was nothing that made us feel like we did well that we could go back to and get going.”

            Northern Colorado started their comeback in the third, chipping away at the lead throughout the quarter. By the end, they trailed 52-45.

The Bears outscored the Wildcats 15-8 in the fourth to force overtime, highlighted by Leger-Walker’s three-pointer that tied the game at 60 with 35 seconds left in regulation.

Weber State jumped out to a five point lead in overtime, helped out by UNC turnovers. Smith took control in the extra period, making a layup and drawing a foul with under a minute left to cut the deficit to one.

Brooks put WSU up by one with four seconds left, which prompted Ethridge to call a timeout. They drew up the play and Smith did the rest, hitting the shot with 0.4 seconds remaining and completing the comeback.

“I honestly thought I kind of got fouled,” Smith said. “After that, I used the space and thought I better get the shot up. After watching it go in I was kind of in shock and just saw all of my teammates running toward me.”

With the win, Northern Colorado improves to 18-6 on the season, 10-3 in Big Sky play. Weber State is still an impressive 16-7 on the season despite the loss. Their conference record now sits at 8-4.

The Bears will hit the road one last time, with road games against Northern Arizona and Southern Utah this Thursday and Saturday. They return home for the final three games of the regular season, beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, February 24^th, when they take on North Dakota.