by Zachary Knecht
Featured Image: Photo by The Fort Morgan Times
Ouch. A 67-39 blowout loss was not exactly the result the Weber State Wildcats were looking for in their first game of conference play against the Northern Colorado Bears. This rout of the ‘Cats was handily the worst offensive showing of the year for an already shaky offense for Weber State, and one they will surely look to erase from their memory.
Rocky Start
Coming into this one, it was obvious the Wildcats would struggle against a defense as talented as the Bears, but falling short of the 40-point mark could not have been expected. It seemed like WSU was starting to find its footing in the second half, but at that point, it was too late as they saw themselves in a 37-12 deficit at the half.
It’s a shame since the defense held its own despite their offensive shortcomings, keeping the Bears to 67 points. This total is three points shy of their season average coming into the contest.
Atrocious Shooting
The Wildcats were held to 21.7% shooting from the field and 23.1% from three. This lack of efficiency was the kiss of death for this offense that could never get going.
Jadyn Matthews and Nakilah Johnson were the only two WSU players to have a decent shooting night on the floor, combining 17 points from 50% shooting. Daryn Hickok, a usually reliable scoring threat, was held to shooting 1-9 but sported nine points on the night from her time at the free-throw line.
Aside from Matthews and Hickok, the starting rotation produced one point on the night. A combined eight players from off the bench united for 18 more, but no one found a solid rhythm.
Decent Defense
The defense played well enough that the ‘Cats should’ve remained in this contest, holding UNCO below the 70-point mark. The WSU defense forced 23 turnovers with 11 steals and five blocks.
Despite the effort, four Bears hit double-digit points as Aniah Hall and Averee Kleinhans led the team with 12 points each. The Bears shot pretty much how they have all season, hitting 44.9% from the field and 38.9% from three, slightly better than their season totals.
Rebounding was shockingly an issue for the Wildcats. They have typically won the rebounding battle this season but lost it Thursday night 42-23. When this team rebounds well, they can get away with mistakes here and there, but not being able to grab many boards was detrimental to this offense. Weber State’s 22 turnovers also didn’t help open opportunities to find their groove.
The Wildcats will need to go back to the drawing board and figure out what went wrong since they will be back on the road at Northern Arizona on Saturday to face off against the Lumberjacks.
The Hive Sports 
Leave a Reply