Northern Colorado women’s basketball is set to begin its postseason in the Big Sky Conference tournament, also known as Starch Madness. The team, which secured the No. 3 seed, will play its opening game against No. 6 seed Eastern Washington on Monday, March 9 at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. MT.
The Bears concluded their regular season with a 22-9 record, marking their first 20-win season under Head Coach Kristen Mattio and their best finish in conference play during her tenure with a 13-5 Big Sky record. This performance reflects the team’s progress over the season.
Throughout the year, Northern Colorado averaged 69 points per game and shot 41.9 percent from the field. The team also averaged nearly 38 rebounds per game and set a new program record for steals in a single season with 352.
Junior forward Tatum West has played a significant role for the Bears, recording nine double-doubles this season and averaging close to a double-double with 10.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
Heather Baymon and Aniah Hall have contributed off the bench; Baymon has averaged 11.5 points per game while Hall adds nearly ten points and five rebounds per contest.
Gabi Fields continues to be one of Northern Colorado’s primary playmakers with a total of 363 career assists—placing her among the top five in program history—and ranking second all-time at UNC with 254 career steals.
Sophomore guard Neenah George is averaging 12.7 points per game and has made important plays throughout the campaign.
Nationally, Northern Colorado’s depth stands out; as of March 2, they ranked seventh among NCAA Division I programs in bench points per game with an average of just over thirty points from reserve players each contest (907 total bench points).
Eastern Washington finished its regular season at 14–17 overall and posted a conference record of seven wins and eleven losses. The Eagles are led by guards Ella Gallatin (15.9 ppg) and Elyn Bowers (14.7 ppg), who handle much of their scoring and playmaking duties, while Kourtney Grossman leads inside with averages of over fourteen points and nearly thirteen rebounds per game.
UNC leads the all-time series against Eastern Washington since 2008 by a margin of twenty-four wins to fifteen losses; most recently defeating them on February 26 by a score of seventy to sixty-five.
The Big Sky Championships run from March 7-11 in Boise, featuring all member institutions competing for an automatic berth into the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship. All games will be streamed on ESPN+, while championship games will air on ESPN networks.
Supporters can follow updates at uncbears.com or via social media channels including X (@UNC_BearsWBB), Instagram (@UNC_BearsWBB), and Facebook (/UNCBearsWBB).
