The UNC Bears women’s basketball team had a tough non-conference schedule…probably the toughest of the 11 teams in the Big Sky. But Head Coach Jenny Huth knows what she is doing. Those games all helped them to prepare for the most important part of the season. As the Bears opened the conference part of the season against the defending champs, a team that was #2 in the Big Sky in offense and #1 in 3-point shooting they knew that they had to play tough defense. The Wyoming win just 2 weeks prior prepared them for this victory. The Bears proved they belong…taking down Portland State 77 to 58.
Portland State came into the game shooting 40% from long range and the Bears knew they needed that number to be much lower. They worked hard and they held the Vikings to 2 of 9 from behind the arc…that’s 22% for those that are counting. The Vikings came in with all starting 5 averaging double-digits…the Bears defense allowed just 2 of them to score in double-digits.
UNC did what they do well, they rebounded the basketball. They out rebounded the Vikings 42 to 35, with 15 of those rebounds being offensive. They turned those offensive rebounds into 20 points. It was a domination by the Bears in every facet of the game on the day. The Bears led from wire to wire after getting out to a very fast start. The Bears defense even held a high-powered offense to just 4 points in the second quarter.
The Bears were led by Bridget Hintz and Micayla Isenbart, each finishing shooting the ball very well. Isenbart would jump out shooting the ball perfectly, going four of her first four from long range and would finish with 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Hintz would score a new career high 21 points on 9 of 13 shooting and add in 7 rebounds. Alexis Chapman added in a quiet 15 points and grabbed a team leading 8 rebounds to help pace the Bears. This team has something to say in the Big Sky and proved that they are not going to be a pushover this season. Teams will need to prepare for a team that can play many ways and can win in many ways.
The Bears hit the road for the next 2 as they travel through Montana, playing Montana State on 2 Jan and Montana on 4 Jan. UNC will be back home on 9 Jan facing the Weber State Wildcats. As always, that game will be on PlutoTV channel 541. Get your tickets and get out there to cheer these ladies on. #KnocksItDownForTheBears