OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha women's basketball team had Northern Colorado on the ropes Friday evening before falling 67-58 at Sapp Fieldhouse. With the loss, the Mavericks are now 2-3 (0-0 Summit League), while the Bears improve to 4-0 (0-0 Big Sky).
Three Mavericks scored in double figures for the evening, led by a team-best 17 points and 10 rebounds from sophomore guard Mikaela Shaw. The Deweese, Neb. native shot 8-for-16 from the field. Shaw added two steals and an assist.
Junior guard Brianna Bogard added 15 points, one steal, and one assist. Freshman guard Remy Davenport chipped in 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field. Davenport also had three rebounds and a steal. Taijhe Kelly added nine points and six rebounds, while Madi Robson dished out a team high five assists.
Northern Colorado's Stephanie Lee proved a challenge for the Mavericks, finishing with a game high 24 points and seven blocked shots. Lee shot 11-for-17 from the floor. Kyleigh Hiser had 16 points and three boards, while shooting 5-for-6 at the line.
As a team, Omaha shot 40 percent (22-for-55) from the floor, 30.8 percent (4-for-13) from long distance and 50 percent (10-for-20) at the free throw line. Northern Colorado finished at 42.1 percent (24-for-57) from the field and 23.8 percent (5-for-21) from beyond the arc. The Bears connected on 66.7 percent (14-of-21) of their free throws.
Northern Colorado opened with a quick 10-7 lead with a pair of jumpers from Stephanie Lee, but Omaha came back with a pair of tip-ins by Taijhe Kelly. The Mavericks rallied to tie the score at 16-16 as Brianna Bogard hit one of two free throws. Omaha tied the score again at 20-20 on a lay-up by Mikaela Shaw. UNO took the lead at 22-20 on a lay-up from Bogard and extended the lead to four points on a bucket from Shaw at 8:06. Northern Colorado retook the lead at 25-24 on a three pointer by Kourteney Zadina, but a Remy Davenport trey gave the lead back to Omaha at 6:56. Sami Pawlak pushed the UNO lead to 37-31 with a lay-up at 1:09. UNC cut into the lead with a 3-pointer by Kyleigh Hiser with 46 seconds left, giving Omaha a 37-34 advantage at the break.
Omaha kept their lead for a majority of the second half. At 18:57, Omaha took an eight-point lead after Brianna Bogard connected on a lay-up and sank a free throw after being fouled on the shot. Northern Colorado slowly chipped away at the lead with baskets by Stephanie Lee and D'Shara Strange in the paint, but an Annie Penquite free throw kept UNO ahead at 45-40.
D'Shara Strange then hit a jumper putting Northern Colorado up 47-45. Mikaela Shaw evened things up the next trip down the court with a lay-up. The score would not remain tied for long, as Strange nailed a three-pointer to put UNC up for good. The Bears then began to pull away, building up to an 11-point lead at 62-51 with 1:22 to go. Free throws helped Northern Colorado keep its lead, and the Bears went on to take the victory, 67-58.
Omaha finishes its home stand on Monday, Dec. 1, hosting Peru State at Sapp Fieldhouse. The game is set for 7 p.m., and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com. The live radio broadcast will be available on 1180 AM KZOT (The Zone 2).
