# 2023–24 Northern Colorado Bears women's basketball team

The 2023–24 Northern Colorado Bears women's basketball team represented the University of Northern Colorado during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bears, led by third-year head coach Kristen Mattio, played their home games at the Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colorado as members of the Big Sky Conference. The finished the season 15–16, 10–8 in Big Sky play, to tie for fourth place.

## Previous season

The Bears finished the 2022–23 season 13–18, 5–13 in Big Sky play, to finish in ninth place. As the #9 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they defeated #10 seed Weber State in the first round before falling to top-seeded Northern Arizona in the quarterfinals.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1, 2023* 6:00 p.m. | | Colorado Christian | W 76–45 | | – | – | – | Bank of Colorado Arena Greeley, CO |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 5:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Hastings | W 86–56 | 1–0 | 22 – Byrne | 12 – Hall | 6 – Fields | Bank of Colorado Arena (683) Greeley, CO |
| November 14, 2023* 6:00 p.m., MidcoSN2/SLN | | at South Dakota | L 59–72 | 1–1 | 15 – Byrne | 12 – Byrne | 2 – Fields | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (1,539) Vermillion, SD |
| November 17, 2023* 11:00 a.m., SLN | | at Omaha | W 82–70 | 2–1 | 22 – Hackley | 10 – Duchemin | 7 – Hackley | Baxter Arena (5,539) Omaha, NE |
| November 20, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | North Dakota State | L 60–67 | 2–2 | 24 – Byrne | 10 – Byrne | 4 – Fields | Bank of Colorado Arena (587) Greeley, CO |
| November 26, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Boston University | L 52–63 | 2–3 | 26 – Simental | 5 – 2 tied | 3 – Byrne | Bank of Colorado Arena (506) Greeley, CO |
| December 3, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Northern New Mexico | W 96–37 | 3–3 | 25 – Byrne | 12 – Byrne | 5 – West | Bank of Colorado Arena (602) Greeley, CO |
| December 9, 2023* 1:00 p.m., MWN | | at Air Force | L 60–68 | 3–4 | 13 – 2 tied | 8 – Byrne | 3 – Fields | Clune Arena (210) Colorado Springs, CO |
| December 16, 2023* 7:00 p.m., MWN | | at Utah State | W 75–57 | 4–4 | 24 – Simental | 7 – Byrne | 6 – Fields | Smith Spectrum (238) Logan, UT |
| December 21, 2023* 12:00 p.m., P12N | | at No. 8 Colorado | L 56–78 | 4–5 | 21 – Byrne | 9 – Byrne | 5 – Fields | CU Events Center (2,654) Boulder, CO |
| December 30, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Northern Arizona | L 72–76 | 4–6 (0–1) | 18 – West | 11 – Byrne | 5 – Fields | Findlay Toyota Court (764) Flagstaff, AZ |
| January 3, 2024* 6:00 p.m., MidcoSN+ | | at Oral Roberts Big Sky–Summit Challenge | L 80–81 | 4–7 | 27 – Simental | 12 – Hall | 7 – Fields | Mabee Center (1,148) Tulsa, OK |
| January 6, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Denver Big Sky–Summit Challenge | W 59–56 | 5–7 | 23 – Simental | 14 – Byrne | 2 – Panem | Bank of Colorado Arena (693) Greeley, CO |
| January 11, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Montana | W 67–57 | 6–7 (1–1) | 17 – Simental | 7 – Simental | 5 – Byrne | Bank of Colorado Arena (587) Greeley, CO |
| January 13, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Montana State | W 58–53 | 7–7 (2–1) | 23 – Byrne | 9 – Byrne | 5 – Byrne | Bank of Colorado Arena (732) Greeley, CO |
| January 18, 2024 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Sacramento State | W 72–59 | 8–7 (3–1) | 20 – Byrne | 7 – Hall | 5 – 2 tied | Hornets Nest (348) Sacramento, CA |
| January 20, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Portland State | W 71–54 | 9–7 (4–1) | 24 – Hall | 16 – Hall | 6 – Hackley | Viking Pavilion (359) Portland, OR |
| January 25, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Eastern Washington | L 62–68 | 9–8 (4–2) | 16 – Byrne | 7 – 2 tied | 6 – Simental | Bank of Colorado Arena (753) Greeley, CO |
| January 27, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Idaho | L 56–60 | 9–9 (4–3) | 19 – Hall | 10 – Byrne | 3 – Hackley | Bank of Colorado Arena (608) Greeley, CO |
| February 1, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Idaho State | L 56–76 | 9–10 (4–4) | 14 – Hall | 6 – Hall | 3 – Simental | Reed Gym Pocatello, ID |
| February 3, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Weber State | W 73–63 | 10–10 (5–4) | 19 – Byrne | 7 – 3 tied | 6 – Simental | Dee Events Center (331) Ogden, UT |
| February 8, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Montana State | L 40–61 | 10–11 (5–5) | 10 – Hackley | 8 – West | 2 – 2 tied | Worthington Arena (1,773) Bozeman, MT |
| February 10, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Montana | L 73–82 | 10–12 (5–6) | 20 – West | 10 – Byrne | 5 – Fields | Dahlberg Arena (2,545) Missoula, MT |
| February 15, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Portland State | W 65–48 | 11–12 (6–6) | 12 – Wenger | 8 – Ogele | 5 – Morales | Bank of Colorado Arena (651) Greeley, CO |
| February 17, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Sacramento State | W 65-59 | 12–12 (7–6) | 20 – Simental | 9 – Byrne | 5 – West | Bank of Colorado Arena (809) Greeley, CO |
| February 22, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Idaho | W 57–38 | 13–12 (8–6) | 15 – Hackley | 13 – Byrne | 3 – Fields | ICCU Arena (1,069) Moscow, ID |
| February 24, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Eastern Washington | L 63–68 | 13–13 (8–7) | 21 – Hall | 8 – Hall | 2 – Hackley | Reese Court (859) Cheney, WA |
| February 29, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Weber State | W 72–64 | 14–13 (9–7) | 19 – Byrne | 7 – Byrne | 4 – 2 tied | Bank of Colorado Arena (635) Greeley, CO |
| March 2, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Idaho State | W 63–51 | 15–13 (10–7) | 20 – Byrne | 15 – Byrne | 7 – Hackley | Bank of Colorado Arena (857) Greeley, CO |
| March 4, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Northern Arizona | L 61–67 | 15–14 (10–8) | 13 – Simental | 7 – Byrne | 4 – Simental | Bank of Colorado Arena (772) Greeley, CO |
| Big Sky tournament |||||||||
| March 11, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (4) Montana State Quarterfinals | L 44–47 $^{OT}$ | 15–15 | 16 – Byrne | 9 – 2 tied | 7 – Fields | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| WNIT |||||||||
| March 21, 2024* 5:30 p.m. | | at UTSA First round | L 62–80 | 15–16 | 18 – Simental | 9 – West | 6 – Fields | Convocation Center (873) San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain. |||||||||
Sources: