GREELEY, Colo. - In their final non-conference game of the season, the Mavericks were downed 45-67 by Northern Colorado in the first game of a four-game road trip Friday evening.
Omaha officially ends its non-conference slate at 5-6, while the Bears win their fourth straight to improve to 7-2.
Leaders For Omaha
After a couple of relatively down games,
Elena Pilakouta returned to form with 17 points tonight, her third most in a game this season. She shot 7-for-10 (70%) and went 3-for-3 from the stripe to pick up her eighth double-digit scoring game of the season. She also led the team with seven total rebounds to reach 70 for the year.
Jaylen Townsend picked up three steals for the second straight game to lead the Mavericks.
Despite only scoring two points tonight, this was enough to put
Grace Cave over 100 points on the season with 101. She is the third Maverick to reach the century mark this year after Pilakouta (136) and
Aaliyah Stanley (106).
Leaders for Northern Colorado
The Bears had four players tonight in double digits, led by Hannah Simental with 17 (4-for-5 with three 3-PT FGs). Averee Kleinhans was third in scoring and earned a double-double 13 points and 10 total rebounds.
Team Stats
The Mavericks had the Bears beat in FT% at 90% to 77.8% after shooting 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. Omaha also had more second chance points (9 to 8), fast break points (12 to 8), and bench points (16 to 9).
However, Northern Colorado outshot Omaha .442 (23-for-52) to .304 (17-for-56), making seven three-pointers vs. just two for the Mavericks.
Inside the First Quarter
Both teams played solid defense through the first half of the period, leading to only nine points combined. Stanley's three-pointer at 7:28 accounted for all of Omaha's points during this span. Meanwhile, Townsend led the Mavericks defense with a pair of steals and a defensive rebound.
Just over a minute into the second half of the quarter, layups from Cave and
Morgann Gardner gave Omaha a 7-6 lead. However, the Bears offense would suddenly come alive down the stretch, outscoring the Mavericks 11-2 to close out the first.
Inside the Second Quarter
Northern Colorado continued its scoring run into the second quarter as they scored eight unanswered by 8:47 to go up 25-9. Then, a few seconds later, Pilakouta managed to get Omaha back on the board with her first layup of the day at 8:41 after Cave quickly drove the ball all the way up the court. Pilakouta would then add two more layups over the next couple of minutes to get Omaha back within 10 points at 15-25.
The last five minutes of the period turned into another defensive showcase for both teams as neither was able to record a single field goal, scoring only via the free throw. Townsend went a perfect 4-for-4 from the stripe and had another defensive board. By the end of the half, both teams had already combined for 17 turnovers.
Inside the Third Quarter
Pilakouta continued to do it all for Omaha coming out of the break, making three more layups and a free throw, as well as bringing down a couple of boards through the first four minutes.
Polina Nikulochkina scored the next three Mavericks points with a layup and a free throw, before Stanley sunk another from deep for just the second three-pointer of the night for Omaha with 1:16 left.
Inside the Fourth Quarter
Entering the final quarter down 32-56, the Mavericks had a lot of ground to make up. Gardner started things off with back-to-back layups, followed by baskets for Pilakouta and
Akili Felici within the first four minutes.
Despite outscoring Northern Colorado 13-11 in the quarter, the initial deficit was too great for Omaha as the Bears ultimately held the Mavericks off to take the game.
Next Up
With non-conference competition wrapped up, the Mavericks will play their first Summit League game of the season next Wednesday at 2 p.m., when they return to Colorado for a game with Denver.
